Alyssa Pheobus Mumtaz is an American artist she explored meditative comparison of things used or considered sacred by South Asian mysticism and devotional cultures in her recent paintings. Her work evolved from her observations while visiting Pakistan and India. As she traveled both the countries she became influenced by religious traditions in this region that symbolically not literally represent the people religious emotions.
She created intricate artworks that represent the calm and thoughtful phase of people's lives which they gain while practicing a particular activity here she used 'maala' symbolically for this purpose. And in the solo exhibition titled "Nirgun Maala" at Koel Gallery, Karachi she tried to understand and grasp the meaning of this 'maala' and its importance in the South Asian devotional practices, which is the string of rosary beads common to Hindu, Buddhist, Christian and Muslim devotional practices. So in a way her artworks are meditative both in form and orientation.
The series portrayed the act of remembrance, reminiscence, and recollection represented in the form of 'maala', which leads to the realization of what may be the highest aspect and purpose in one's life. "The 'maala' is also an apt metaphor for the contemplative character of my work: like the turning of the beads, my cyclical practice periodically loops back on itself, revisiting forms and images that have become objects of concentration," she said in a statement.
"In a popular poem well known by qawwals and bhajan singers alike, Kabir Das ecstatically proclaims his gratitude that his maala is finally broken." The exhibition was divided in four categories each series covered a separate concept related to people's devotional and spiritual observance.
"Constellations, a series of paintings in which a single string of prayer beads was depicted in the process of breaking open, shedding its limitative form. "Characters, a parallel group of tasbihs drawn in black indigo, playfully imitate calligraphic forms or ink blots, suggesting dynamic states of soul.
"Travelers, a pair of elaborate, embroidery-like collages composed on the surface of handloom silk, complement the intimate works on paper. Referring to the patched and embellished khirqa robes worn by wandering mystics, the abstracted floral imagery of these works echoes the Sanskritic origin of the word maala, which also signifies a garland of flowers. "A fourth project, a series of delicate pencil drawings depicting Looms, meditates on the acts of weaving and unraveling."
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