User:Aamnabrownie1002/Kulsum Tasnif

Visit Website: www.kulsumtasnif.com

The Artist

The transcendence of geographic boundaries and search for beauty and truth is at the heart of American based artist, Kulsum Tasnif. Being of Pakistani descent but born in England, she has had a first hand exposure of bridging this cultural divide. Her work speaks to that internal and external journey.

Kulsum Tasnif

Growing up in the Middle East and traveling and exploring the world have given her style and artistry an especially human element, displaying a creative flair that resonates with people at their core. Whether volunteering in Bosnian refugee camps during the genocide, in children refugee camps, or translating Urdu for domestic abuse victims domestically, she translates pain and suffering into beauty and a message of resilience and joy. Her biggest struggle has been losing both her beloved parents to cancer, the therapy of art being a canvas to deal with her emotions. Kulsum takes the minds, bodies, and hearts of individuals and cultures from her journey and fuses them onto a medium to share with the world.

Mind, Body, and Heart

All artists infuse something in their art in order to shift the perception of their viewer. Think differently. Kulsum’s medium may not always be the canvas but her work often revolves around the mind, the body, and the heart. These centralized themes and how they manifest, both internally and externally, play a great role in the art Kulsum produces.

1. MIND

The mind is a powerful thing; as we explore concepts and lessons we grow as individuals. Being trained as a conceptual artist in her early years and having been mentored by British artist Conrad Atkinson throughout her career have provided Kulsum with the adequate curriculum to create pieces with intellectual depth. For example, one of the influences of this conceptual framework is a reference to the beautiful understanding of cloth found in Islam. From the cloth of the Kaaba, a woman’s hijab, or the Qu’ranic teaching that in marital bond, spouses serve as “protective garments,” all of these deep ideas are a part of the exploration. Such connotations help the viewer think deeper about social, political, and religious meanings and how we as individuals relate to others, the world, and ultimately ourselves.

2. BODY

The body is a vessel that we use to experience the world. It is the main tool through which we absorb everything around us. This idea is intertwined with the art: Everything from traditional Mehndi designs used for painting the hands of newly wed brides from the Indo sub-continent to geometric patterns from architecture. These physical experiences that we have with shapes, colors, and patterns create mesmerizing intoxication for the viewer understanding the patterns of the universe and life, and how we contribute to the cosmic tapestry.

3. HEART

The heart is the temple and throne of governance in true actualized human beings. If the heart is sound, the whole body, mind, and human are sound. The mind’s chatter and fear dissipate in the overwhelming energy of the sound heart. The inner dimensions of spiritual understanding, which revolve around the polishing of the heart, is a central theme explored in Kulsum’s art. From the calligraphy of the 99 Names of God, which are the most beautiful names that are used to purify the spirit, to the deep violets and reds of spiritual intimacy. The heart knows.