Emblems of Here, Then and Now

Emblems of Here, Then and Now, a two-person show featuring works by Amna Suheyl and Haniya Ali Athar.

Through their unique methods of printmaking, viewers are taken through the artists' journey of resolving and defining identities, history and self.

The myriad reflections of the feminine are pivotal to Amna Suheyl’s narrative as a researcher and visual artist. Her work is inspired by her family’s matriarchal history as well as an observation of the feminine presence around her. Suheyl turns women in her daily life into characters – heroines, who maintain the harmony of life through empathy and companionship. They appear as harbingers of hope, sustenance, and calm; sometimes as storytellers carrying traditions forward, sometimes being the subtle burden-carriers of loss, and other times as the fertile, the sensual, the formidable. The feminine manifests new beginnings from the ashes of broken societies.

 Haniya Ali Athar’s work documents her quest of finding herself through various objects that surround her, inspire her and hold diverse meaning for her. The play of mundane and utilitarian items form the essence of her work where they are not lifeless materials but characters with human like presence. The fantasy like visual language of Athar’s work reflects a surreal state of mind.