Adeela Suleman is a contemporary Pakistani sculptor and artist. She is currently the Coordinator of Vasl Artists’ Collective in Karachi, and is also an Associate Professor at the Indus ValleySchool of Art and Architecture]http://www.indusvalley.edu.pk/web/undergraduate/bachelor-of-fine-art/ - She lives and works in Karachi, Pakistan, and is known for the social and political commentary underlying her sculptures, which are created out of mundane, everyday objects.
Adeela Suleman's work takes found domestic objects and materials from everyday life and transforming them into sculptures. "The everyday object, through its multiplication and assembly, becomes the delegate of a new, stimulating inner vision," she said. Her art has consistently reflected an engagement with contemporary socio-political concerns, primarily gender in Pakistani society, an engagement that has continued from her earlier university days. Her early work displayed the transformation of found objects into art. A theme running through her earlier work is the restrictions that women face in the private sphere. She created helmets, body armour and corsets made out of kitchen utensils and other functional tools, to show the entrapment that the private sphere imposes upon women in Pakistani society. Her more recent work has moved towards flatter silhouettes, creating tableaux on steel sheets, where pastoral scenes are rendered in the filigree tradition of Islamic art on the hard steel surface. These pastoral images are juxtaposed with symbols of destruction like weapons, the contradiction in these images signifying the indifference of society to the violence present within it. Suleman's work displays recurring motifs of organic elements like flowers and birds.
Exhibitions
Adeela Suleman's work has been exhibited both in group and solo exhibitions internationally. Some of her exhibitions have been:
Art Festival: Urban Voices, Karachi,
The Thakhti Show, Freer Hall, Karachi, Pakistan
Imagined Workshop, 2nd Fukuoka Asian Art Triennial, Fukuoka, Japan
Twenty-four Shots per second, Kara Film Fest, Karachi, Pakistan
Spielen mit geladenem Gewehr, Kunsthalle Fridericianum Kassel, Germany
Vasl Artists’ Association is affiliated with the Triangle Network, UK, which is an international network of artists and art organizations. The term ‘Vasl’ originating from both Urdu and Persian poetry, has an enriched deep association of a physical or transcendent connection between two. Inspired by this philosophy, Vasl Artist’s Association functions as a platform for encouraging the freedom to express and nurture creativity. Established in 2001 and based in Karachi, Pakistan. Vasl is a not-for-profit organization that is also affiliated with the Triangle Network, which was founded in 1982 – a global network of artists and visual arts organization that support professional development and cultural exchange. Since its inception, more than 600 international and local artists have undertaken Vasl residencies, attended various workshops and created projects of significance. Adeela Suleman is a founding member of Vasl Artists' Assocoation and currently, the Director of the company.
