Sibtay Shaheed, Talaq (Separation)
Fabric pieces on canvas (150cm x 99cm)

Sibtay Shaheed’s work explores harmony, a series of square colour fabric pieces collaged together on canvas. With Talaq, each coloured piece is cut and placed randomly, both connected and disconnected from each other, the squares carry the spaces of both inside and outside together. The work is about separation and connection, like the principals of Ying and Yang, squares are equal from each side, just like a person, they have boundaries, standards and an ego. Reminiscent of the religious concept of Talaq, the title is taken from the Arabic word meaning divorce, freeing or undoing a knot. Here Shaheed shows how divorce can occur in shapes and forms. Divorce (separation) is also about connection and disconnection. Each colour piece, cut and disconnected from each other, become whole when viewed from a distance. Space is about connection and disconnection and according to Buddhism, the idea of inside/outside means Shunya. The philosophy of Shunya tells that every material and spiritual entity emerges from and merges into nothingness. Shunya can be found in Sanskrit, meaning “empty” or “void”, which is also considered to be the state of nothingness.

Instagram: @sibtayart