A House Without Walls

Curatorial Note

Taking stock of his surroundings leads Faisal to introspectively ruminate on those household objects that have played an essential role in his upbringing. He says of these tools, these implements, these machines, “they were always around, shaping my environment and me”. These objects are not his, in the common sense of the word but by being inexplicably linked to his being as familial keepsakes, they belong to him. Whether it be dowry gifts such as his mother’s sewing machine or the state-issued revolver belonging to his father, the artist credits these objects as being used to provide for him and his siblings. So to the artist, these and other items that are part of the display hold significant meaning and nostalgic connotations truly emblematic of home.

Within these contrasting pairs, where some are implements of relaxation and others are tools of the trade, where some are tools of creation while others are purposefully built to cause destruction, the common thread that emerges is that they are a means to serve and protect. Memon’s practice draws his audience in, enraptured they ponder the meaning of the objects before them. Whereas his show-mate focuses on intrapersonal symbolism and nostalgic attachment, at first glance Memon’s objects do not betray their deep significance and seem removed from his personal narrative. However, he sees these as symbolic of his ideas around displacement and nostalgia, of the feeling that one is not privileged to have a place to call home, of always being on the road. A piece of bent rebar here, a broken slab of concrete there, a sheet of rust metal, all of these supposedly long-lasting items having been discarded, once lost to the ravages of time, are now meticulously recreated. These specific items are portals through which the artist reflects on a home that is no longer there and the one he hopes to build in the future. To him, this is about the people, the relationships, the unforgettable occasions, those particular places, which cannot be erased from our minds regardless of the passage of time, which cumulatively make a house into a home. The orange hues of Faisal’s plexiglass contrast nicely with Memon’s pairings of hyper realistically painted resin sculptures and grayscale graphite drawings as these disparate yet similar art practices come together.

Each artist in their own way goes about navigating the intricacies of what home means to them, and how the objects that they have chosen to replicate play an essential role within the building of this physical and metaphorical space. Going far beyond their original purpose, these mass-produced items form particular associations for the artists and cause us to reflect on the similar associations we form in our own lives. For the viewer, the only thing left to do is to shun completely or embrace entirely these objects, analyzing the innate human need to form linkages with the things we find around us and reflect on what impact they have in making their home, a home in comparison to the ones they see laid out in front of them. The artists ask us to ponder, “what is a home without the items, memories and lived experiences that make it such?” In the abundance of things that we find in our surroundings, some of them belong to us but also don’t, as everything on this pale dot is bound to fade as the things, places and moments that give them meaning also are swallowed by time.