Ali Shariq

Perception: Between Possible and Impossible
Mariam Dawood
School of Visual Arts & Design

Abstract

“It is a consequence of all our thoughts and perceptions about possibilities and impossibilities”

Seeing the impossibility in reality might not be possible but through images one can visualize the impossibilities. We are living in the world of dichotomies, where everything is contradictory and paradoxical. “The relation between what we see and what we know is never settled. Each evening we see the sun set, we know the earth is turning away from it, yet the knowledge, the explanation never quite fits the sight” (John Berger). All of our experiences are outcome of whatever human mind can comprehend and rationalize. Perceptions are built on our experiences since experiences are limited due to their sensory dependency so is the perception of reality. Anything that is escaped from human sensory experience are understood as impossible.

My practice draws perceptual trajectory of human mind and its ability to conceive contradiction. Creating parallel realities, my recent body of work deals with possible and impossible, truth and fiction, real and imaginary, tangible and intangible. In my work the physical laws are often reversed, upended with deft manipulations. Breaking the existing notion of the original material and inventing an interesting new way of seeing it, my sculptural works create new meanings to the objects that inhabit our everyday lives, and as result force the viewer to reconsider the ways in which these objects can be engaged.