Asma Mundrawala (born 1965, Karachi; lives and works in Karachi)

It Ain’t Over till the Fat Lady Sings
2009
Acrylic on paper and card
H. 11 x W. 11 x D. 11 in. (27.9 x 27.9 x 27.9 cm)
Collection of the artist
Image courtesy of the artist

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Z
Is You Is or Is You Ain’t…?
2009
Digital print on card
10 3/4 x W. 12 x D. 10 3/4 in. (27.3 x 30.5 x 27.3 cm)
Collection of the artist
Image courtesy of the artist

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These pop-up paper constructed works demand an interactivity that invites the viewer to enter a magical, three-dimensional space, which sets the stage for ideas representing nostalgic memorabilia, the romanticism of studio poses in old family photographs, and the exaggerated expressions borrowed from films and urban architecture in Karachi from the 1960s and 1970s. The original inspiration for my work emerges from the language of popular culture and explores the relationship between modernization in the urban setting and its effect on our culture. Given the multi-cultural diversity of Karachi and the interplay of the enormous influences that form its visual vocabulary, the works engage in issues that revolve around the experience of living in the city. Ornamentation and the honouring of objects through the use of decoration give the works an idyllic and optimistic atmosphere, recreating an unsatisfactory world by furnishing it with imagined alternatives.