Suleman Faisal is the recent recipient of the Vasl- KKAF Research Grant, 2020-2021. Suleman Faisal is a Lahore based artist who graduated with distinction in Fine Arts from the National College of Arts, in 2017. He has showcased his work in several group shows across various galleries in Pakistan. Currently, Faisal teaches at the National College of Arts, Lahore while focusing on his practice as an independent artist. Faisal attempts to communicate with multiple mediums and techniques which are sculptural in nature. His practice raises questions of justice in society through his evolving forms.

Suleman Faisal was even a resident artist for Vasl’s 12^th Taaza Tareen residency, Echoes of the Walls.

The Research Grant of 2020-2021 is comprised of 4 members, Naiza Khan, Rabeya Jalil, Risham Syed and Sameera Raja.

There is a certain kind of instinctive affiliation pertaining to tools and how we use them, each tool has a specific function that changes the way they are utilized. As an artist and a former laborer myself, I have had experiences ranging from working in an assembly line making mass-produced products to assisting in visual merchandising for popular conglomerates. My experience shifted from being an individual worker laboring on commission to an artist reaching within myself towards the depths of creative expression. This shift was the catalyst in the evolution of my worldview, which changed drastically as I reflected on various differing perspectives about what tools mean and how this meaning changes from person to person, and what this says about the individuals themselves. As artists, most of us are laborer of a sort, but our experience tends to be one of a labor of love as opposed to a marriage of convenience. When we look at the experience of a child who works in a factory or quarry, it is incredibly distinct from the type of labor that is borne out of passion and dedication. That is the idea that I have attempted to tease out through my practice, recently and in my learnt experiences over the last few years. As I have unfolded different aspects of these experiences, I have come to the realization that there is an inherent fallacy in the way these tools are perceived by different classes of society. Someone in my position has the luxury and ability to use them at my discretion, and perhaps even celebrate this play. The objects created for this showcase are one part, an homage to those tools that have made me the person that I am. In that case, these objects are also very telling of the experience of the laborer who earns through them. One is a compulsion and one is a form of catharsis. The inherently transparent material has been playfully molded into different objects which are all made to commemorate these differing perspectives. The orange hues radiate a sense of warmth and happiness in the viewer’s mind which in addition to the ‘bows’ and ‘wrapping paper’ help form a strong association with the act of gift-giving, behind which lurks a much more sinister context introducing a darker side of labor practices. I cannot help but also highlight how these tools mean completely different things to someone who is trained to use them for reward and remuneration and me who is in awe of their aesthetic potential. Whether you see the playful nature of these objects that evokes the viewers imagination in some, or a fallacy in the way they are crafted and presented as tools of mobility and hard labor, there is much to be said on how their connotation shifts. The showcase of these objects as interactive and playful aims to dissect the levels of representation that each of these objects brings to us all. Like Sisyphus toiling monotonously on and on, through my work I invite the viewer on this journey into the capitalist attitudes of constant productivity.

About Suleman:

Suleman Faisal is a Lahore-based artist working between sculpture, video and performance. Faisal’s multidisciplinary artworks explore the latent aggression held within humans and objects, and the minor violences carried out through socially-acceptable activities such as cooking, hosting or manufacturing. This interest in power balances and tools is influenced by Fasial’s personal history, working in the toy-making and plastic industries, in addition to his exploration of the diverse socioeconomic conditions of the city in which he lives. Faisal graduated in 2017 with distinction in Fine Arts from NCA, the leading arts university in Pakistan, where he currently teaches. He has taken part in artist residencies at Vasl Artist’s Association, Karachi (2020) and Pioneer Cement Residency, curated by the Canvas Gallery, Karachi (2017). Faisal has showcased his work in group exhibitions including ‘For the Wicked and the Valiant,’ O Art Space Lahore (2021), ‘A Site for the Sight,’ Lahore Biennale (2020), ‘Microcosm II,’ AAN Gandhara Art Space Karachi (2018), ‘Transition in Time,’ Zahoor ul Akhlaq Gallery NCA Lahore (2018), ‘Four Rooms,’ Lahore Biennale at PILAC (2018), and ‘Beneath the surface,’ Canvas Gallery (2017). Faisal has been commissioned to produce public realm works and monumental projects for Coca-Cola, Faizaya Housing Scheme and Wapda Town in Sargodha, Bahria Town Karachi, Lahore Shadman Junction and Alkaram Studio, Pakistan. In 2020, Faisal received the Vasl-Khurram Kasim Art Foundation Research Grant.