Written by: Nayha Jehangir Khan
Posted on: October 06, 2021 | 
| 中文
Visitors observe paintings at 8B2, Chak Shahzad, Islamabad
The exhibition titled “La Perfection Imparfaite” is taking place at an exciting new art space opened in Chak Shehzad Farms, Islamabad. The 15 paintings by artist Xandria Noir showcases an assemblage of quiet brush strokes, minimal color compositions, textured layers of subtle mark-making to create a meditative body of work. Her previous exhibition was held in December 2019 titled “Moi et le Monde Imparfait”, can be seen as the first volume to her current exhibit that deeply explores Noir’s experiences of painting during the height of the pandemic. Having recently moved to the capital city, this transition began her visual experimentation that has resulted in this current series. Through her paintings, we experience the passage of time that is both fleeting yet grounded on the picture plane. Her focus is to highlight the complexity of the human condition by immersing herself in her painting process.
A Xandria Noir's art work
Noir paints with resolve and commitment, her paintings carry imagery of a dystopian world. Their direction is interrupted with stark divisions of lines coming down in straight clean partitions, shaped like an arrow. The spectrum of colors is purposely kept limited to luminous warm yellows paired with darker grey, black and teal hues. The texture feels corrosive in nature, allowing the viewer to create associations of decaying city centers with weathered walls or metal surfaces with aged residue fossilizing with time. Noir’s painting sensibility can be interpreted as musical, the paint changes its pace from smoothly blended backgrounds to a foreground of white noise that eventually feels like a blurring of vision. The viewer’s eye is forced to move around the canvas resting on the solid rectangle corners filled with bright red, yellow or white. These objects within the drifting painterly moments have an architectural weight that creates the illusion of a landscape.
Xandria Noir's artworks
The practice of modern painting abandoned realism as it was rigid, premeditated and removed from the subconscious explorations of the mind. Noir prefers to explore her own psychology through a subjective, intangible and ephemeral experience. She is inviting her viewer to explore their own sense of self through her paintings. Like a music composer, she has visual notation used in a variety of combinations that expand, contract, trigger and release the spatial dimensions of the gallery space. Are these images of a futuristic dimension, otherworldly doorways or a close-up view of Noir’s studio walls? They feel like intimate moments that the artist experienced while painting her own state of mind. When gazing deeply into her paintings, the transitory nature of the human experience starts to reveal itself. We witness the colors change, the scraping starts to come alive, and the dry brush strokes become heavier with time. The void and space within the deliberate bleeding of paint begin to tell a story. There are a few paintings with thick paint paired with translucent washes of color, within confined smaller geometric shapes.
An assemblage of Noir's paintworks
The viewer can start to see rain dripping down the window or in another instant, distant rock formations or a rising cloud on the horizon. They have energy that captures the viewer’s attention, locking them into an exchange. Noir’s color, texture and forms create a psychological connection between the art and the viewer that is amplified by her minimalistic motifs. Without any representational forms, the mind begins to drift through personal memories, past experiences and a plethora of imaginative prompts that contribute to the interpretation of each painting.
A painting of Xandria Noir, exhibited at 8B2, Chak Shahzad, Islamabad
8B2 has been established by Fatima Hamid as giving back to her art community. Alma mater of National College of Arts, Lahore, she studied Miniature Art and continued her artistic practice through creating a handcrafted fashion brand called “Kamni”. Dedicated to introducing artists and showcasing artwork this month, the gallery space will promote art and culture in the area. The location is nestled in the countryside, away from the hustle and bustle of the city, making it an ideal experience for art lovers to enjoy art shows, film screenings and artist talks. Hamid expressed the hope that 8B2 will become a multidisciplinary hub for collective art discourse and discussions that can foster closer ties and relationships between the artist and the wider community. “La Perfection Imparfaite” exhibition continues until the 7th of October, followed by a group exhibition of miniature artists on the 9th and a photography exhibition, all taking place in the month of October.
Artworks from 'La Perfection Imparfaite' by Xandria Noir
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