Jibran & Ammama first of all welcome to Pakistan Art Forum.
1. How would you each define your current artistic style?
Ammama: I think my style has always been classical, from the technique to the way I use light in my work. I’ve always been inspired by Caravaggio’s work and the way he painted light.
Jibran: My current style of work is a combination of surrealism and fantasy.
2. How has your style evolved over the years since your graduation?
Ammama: I think my style has been the same, it has just gotten a little better with experience and consistency.
Jibran: The main focus of my work since graduation has always been figurative. From exploring forms and fusing other elements with the figure, my initial works were more abstract compared to my recent work, now I think I have evolved a character around which I explore different narratives and themes.
3. Tell us about the current show, LATMUS. What does it mean? And how did you come up with the concept?
Ammama: Litmus is a place where two worlds get together, a meeting place for two different dimensions. Although both of us work with figures but the paintings are very different in the sense of mood, lighting, and the space that they’re in. My figures are from this world as for jibrans figures they are characters from another world, fantastical. The show was named Latmus because the thing that connected my work to his was dreams. A place where both could exist with each other.
Jibran: Litmus” in mythology is a liminal space, where two worlds meet. We decided to use this in the title, as my work takes a lot of inspiration from mythology and stories from the fantasy genre. Ammama’s work portrays figures and settings from this world. So we planned on presenting the show in a way that ammama’s figures are the dreamers and mine are the dreams.
4. How does each of your collections relate to the overall exhibition theme?
Ammama: The exhibition’s theme is based on a place where two different worlds can exist together so to put it very simply, my figures are the dreamers, and jibrans work is the dream.
Jibran: Litmus” in mythology is a liminal space, where two worlds meet. We decided to use this in the title, as my work takes a lot of inspiration from mythology and stories from the fantasy genre. Ammama’s work portrays figures and settings from this world. So we planned on presenting the show in a way that Ammama’s figures are the dreamers and mine are the dreams.
5. This is your second show as a husband and wife duo. Is it easier to create a joint show or do you have to struggle to find common areas of interest?
Ammama: I think working together makes it easier, we both know each other’s work well enough to bring it together under one theme.
Jibran: I think it’s easier because we work together, and are familiar with each other’s process, regular discussions on work take place and both have some common interests and likings, for e.g.working in traditional mediums, focusing on the craft and skill, classical inspiration, etc.
6. What is next for the two of you?
Ammama: My next step now is a solo show, will start working on that in a few weeks.
Jibran: have plans on exploring more mediums for my sculptures in the next series, and let’s see how these experiments result, but I think I want to do more 3d works next.
