Rereading Identity in Contemporary Miniatures Focusing on the Works of Shahzia Sikander

Identity is a multidimensional issue which its origin should be sought in the desire of human beings to explore their intrinsic affiliations, with the aim of satisfaction of needs and the sense of social belonging, and also identifying personality traits that will distinguish one person from another. In the field of psychology, many theoreticians consider identity to be primarily the product of personal feelings and desires that are separable from the feelings of others. This is why some of them believe that identity is the sense of oneself, or in other words self-cognition, which is formed in relation to others and in the context of a specific space and time. In such a situation, there is a direct connection between personality and identity and personality plays an invaluable role in embossing identity. "Identity is a sense of self-distinction, self-continuity and self-independence," Jacobsen said, emphasizing individual identity. Today, societies are increasingly attempting to detect the components of their identity. Most sociologists emphasize the fact that the sense of identity is formed through the dialectic of the interpersonal and society. They more or less accept that identity is usually reflected in the visions and feelings of individuals, even though the context for its formation is collective life. This is the groundwork in which artist grows and begins to search for his bygones and belongings, in the moments of contemplation. Entering the new era, with the emergence of new identities and the distortion of previous ones, this issue considered increasingly by thinkers in various fields. The rise of postmodernism, which is highly pluralistic, fragmented and relativistic, the flow of globalization and transcending political, cultural, and economic boundaries, also accelerating changes in the electronic revolution, and finally, moving toward the information society in the present era; these are some reasons for paying more attention to the issue of identity. For artists in colonial countries such as Pakistan and India, identity has become a suitable subject for expressing ideas in various artistic forms. For almost two decades, the presence of modern Pakistani artists in the contemporary art scene, has shaped the formation of the Neominiature movement in Pakistan and the Indian subcontinent. The influence of modernism and also establishment of modern art institutions in the last half century, led to the education of a young generation that aimed to become avant-garde artists by being in the middle of artistic flows of the time. They deconstructed and seek to establish themselves in the international arena by using traditions and diligently searching for identity. Following the actions of art curators, the young Pakistani art community is drawing the attention of audiences to local talents across the country, who are some prominent and world-renowned artists. Such as Shahzia Sikander, a Pakistani-American visual artist who works in various media, comprising design, painting, animation, installation, performance and film. Educated at the Pakistan College of Art, she is an outstanding contemporary artist who challenges multiple issues such as identity in the contemporary world, by delving into the past, and also using structural and visual elements of Miniature to express herself. The social conditions of childhood and adolescence, history, immigration challenges, identity complexities and sexual frustrations are some of the issues that the artist has faced since the beginning of her career, and thus benefits from the symbols and elements that reflect these concepts.
By shifting traditional frames and breaking the framework of context in the center of the image, she retold new visual narratives, and "design" as the beating heart of her visual world, paved the way for the creation of in various media. She increased the variety of new techniques, such as mosaics, animation, sculpture, installation, etc., and provided a conducive platform for gaining experience and an effective way to act in complex and deeply rooted cultural, political and social positions. Shahzia's ambiguous compositions disprove hierarchical assumptions. These complexities, with their endless changes (referring to the ever-changing world), provide an open-ended narrative and infinitely possible interpretations. During her migration, the flow of her identity and consolidation as an Asian Muslim female artist was burden on her and turned her into an "alien" or "other" although it became one of the artist's main concerns. Who am I and what do I do? What is my role as an artist? She always struggles with these ethnic questions about her roots.
The issue of identity has been discussed in several fields of humanities, psychology, sociology, etc. Due to limited resources, and though no fundamental research has been done on Shahzia Sikander in Iran so far: A study of structural features of Painting in the Works of Three Postmodern Artists (with a Case Study of the Works of Farah Osuli, Singh Twins, and Shahzia Sikander), has been written by Asghar Kafshchian Moghadam and Maryam Qajavand (published in Rahpooyeh Honar magazine, 2018), in which a number of Sikander’s works are structurally adapted to Iranian miniature. The innovation of this article is recognizing the intellectual infrastructure of the artist, how to manipulate Indian myths and miniature elements of the past to create an innovative atmosphere for conversation and communication, as well as establishing herself as an immigrant Muslim female artist in contemporary art.
In this research, firstly a definition of identity will be obtained, then the life of the Pakistani artist, Shahzia Sikander and the factors influencing the formation of her intellectual currents will be achieved, and finally a descriptive-analytical method will be studied to analyze her works, aiming to discover the complexities of identity in the context of the requirements of contemporary art. The following questions are also answered in this regard:  What are the components of identity in Sikander’s works? Has the artist been able to answer questions about her identity? What elements has she found to express her ideas?
After discovering the identity of a Muslim woman in a colonized country with rich cultural roots and mixed with various religions and traditions, Sikander refers to the pictorial elements of Rajasthani, Rajput and Hindu-Islamic miniatures of the Gurkani period. She studied the roots of individual and collective identity and recounts the themes of identity through visual arrangements in the form of concerns of the contemporary world such as gender, religion, nationality, politics, etc. These preparations are using of Hindu myths such as Guppi, Krishna, Shiva, Lakshmi manifestations, etc., which reread gender issues through symbols and myths. She also uses the achievements of Iranian miniature as a multi-dimensional space to connect the past and the present. Understanding the capabilities of tradition and requirements of contemporary art and the issue of identity, is the main concern of Shahzia Sikander that she tries to discover it by returning to history and finding cultural roots and expanding it in her works.
Recognizing the contemporary world with successive developments and adapting it, as well as identifying and introducing herself as an artist, are the goals of Shahzia Sikander who lived in a society with a brilliant culture, tasted the bitterness of the consequences of colonialism and suffocation, and eventually is known as an avant-garde artist in the world of contemporary art. Resembles as many other artists, she understood the capabilities of Miniature in different eras, and turned them into implements for expressing her artistic intentions and contemporary concerns. With a critical approach to the contemporary world, Shahzia has chosen Miniature as her point of departure, and using the capacity of various media, provided a new horizon for communication.