Brought To You by Amina Jameel

Amina Jameel is an artist who loves to hide within her canvas. Her paintings reflect her subtle presence, only hinting, mostly lurking, keeping more for herself but somehow still managing to capture your attention. She is selective, intentional, and curious in her practice. What particularly caught my eye is one of her recent works titled ‘Brought’.

At first glance, you’ll probably question her training in miniature art. But as you step closer, you will see artistic command, intricate details, and a rebellious de-construction. Yes, her medium is traditional, but her projection, subjects, and everything in between seem intentionally unorthodox.

The first thing you notice in this painting is a large fish, standing out on the perfectly prepared hand-made paper. She controls your vision and directs it exactly where she wants it to land initially. But in no time, your centered vision jumps off to the negative space around, and a female head pops out of a scribbled sea. On each end of her extended arms, there are large birds, making her look like a scare-crow.

But just as you study the birds on each end, your eyes start to bounce around on the scattered nuktay (dots) throughout the lower half of the painting. And that, in my opinion, is where she is hiding.

If you divide the painting in two zones, one above the fish and one below it, the lower half of the lower half, almost immersed in a pink ombre, feels like traveling closer and closer inside. Truly inside her head, almost resembling the inside color of the human body. The lower you go, read: the inner you go, the more you start to get confused. Almost like traveling to your subconscious mind. Where so much that you’re unaware of is still existing.

You see incomplete animal and human figures overlapping: Half-sketched human body parts, collared shirt, a large foot, the profile of a man with one of the birds almost sitting atop its head, a creepy moustached man staring right at you, and the upward gazing, mughal-looking man at the lower left corner. Your eyes travel back and forth trying to make sense, almost riding the same lines that feel haphazard. But are they really haphazard if they’re directing you again and again?

Then, once you’ve read every corner, and you zoom back, you see a map. Not like the world map. Just the 4 directions and a center. The initial center (The fish) starts feeling too far north. The two birds stand at east and west. And the emphasized deer-looking animal becomes the south. The face of the woman takes center.

Another redirection. This is when you realise, it's not about the fish. It's about the woman, who is, if not entrapped, then at least, jumbled up in the chaos of her subconscious mind.