“Zarina: Floating on the Dark Sea” by Sandhini Poddar

New York-based artist Zarina (Zarina Hashmi, b. 1937, Aligarh, India) often talks about counting, and specifically about counting down to her death. The element of time pervades her multi-faceted art practice, as do the twin concepts of mortality and eternity. Zarina studied mathematics and is both a printmaker and a sculptor, using the gauged and inked surfaces of her renowned woodblocks to ruminate on her own life as an artist in exile. Her recurring themes of memory, dislocation, loss, and spiritual hope are particularly prescient at the moment, given the global refugee crisis. Zarina’s art is humble in its approach and yet monumentally and profoundly affective. It’s difficult to walk away from a studio visit or exhibition viewing without shedding a tear. This is her story.
About Sandhini Poddar:
Poddar is a London-based art historian. Between 2007 and 2016 she worked in various curatorial capacities for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, with a focus on global exhibitions, acquisitions, and scholarship on modern and contemporary Asian art. She curated 'Anish Kapoor: Memory', 'Being Singular Plural' and 'V. S. Gaitonde: Painting as Process, Painting as Life' as well as served on the curatorial teams for the exhibitions, 'Cai Guo-Qiang: I Want to Believe', 'The Third Mind: American Artists Contemplate Asia, 1860-1989', 'Lee Ufan: Marking Infinity' and 'Zarina: Paper Like Skin'. Poddar studied Indian aesthetics and architectural history, as well as visual arts management.