Feeling Chaos in Play: Interview with Featured Artist, Hajra Memon
Jabeen Qadri, Art Editor
Hajra Memon is a Hala-based artist, a recent graduate from the Shaheed Allah Buksh Soomro University of Arts and Design, Jahmshoro, currently practising in her hometown. In this interview, she describes the production of the featured artwork “Collapse” for this issue of The Missing Slate. Through her animated video, she provides a moment of stillness and guidance to navigate the labyrinth of our daily lives and creative journeys.
Tell us about your art that has been featured in this issue?
It was an animation, titled “Collapse”. It shows a day in my life. If I am waking up in the morning, some days start very chaotic, and some days are very disciplined. And sometimes I want to collect all of those feelings into one box. I do not know how to explain it exactly. It’s kind of messy. If you feel very chaotic, it doesn’t mean that it should be conveyed in a very messy way. Basically, feeling in a very abstract form.
Then, as the animation proceeds, the feelings appear to be coming together. Is that right?
Yes, they are coming together. I want my day to be in a very disciplined way. I have like 3 to 4 tasks in my day, and I just do them. And in the end, I’m like, okay, now, I just completed my task, and I have to add a little more, a little more or a tiny bit of this feeling into that task, and when I do that, it all just collapses. Imperfection is left in the end. We all hope to be more disciplined.
I agree. So, what generally inspires you to create work? Who are your favourite artists, writers, or any person of influence?
It’s all chaos. And finding a balance between order and chaos. To be honest, no, there’s no artist, there is no person of influence. But there are little things that influence me in daily life. For example, if I see someone waving at me and I don’t know who that is. There’s a distance between this person waving at me and just smiling at me. Or a stranger helps you. These little moments influence me, and I amplify these feelings into my work.
I want to ask about the building blocks. Why did you decide to work with them?
I used to play with Legos as a child. There was a connection of childhood with them. Apart from that, blocks are the only object for me that defines true discipline and chaos as well. When we try to build with blocks or any kind of building, we have to take care of some important things. If I pick– we pick up a yellow or brown block, it’s different from the rest. How do we find balance in the building process?
Do you find that throughout your process, it is soothing to try to find the end? Or do you find that you’re really kind of battling your art?
Sometimes it’s challenging, but sometimes it’s playful and soothing as well. So it’s both.
I would focus on the feelings when making, and also when I’m choosing the colour of the blocks. So it basically depends on my day and what kind of feelings I am experiencing on that day.
Talking through the lens of the Magazine, where people are writing and making art, what do you think that creativity can show us about how to handle this challenging process and the feelings that arise?
It depends on the artist and how they convey their feelings through their art and find balance. Balance
isn’t alike for people and for people’s perception. Balance is a very small word, but for me, it’s not a very small word. It’s a very big concept, because in life you have to balance a lot of challenges and feelings to complete your tasks or to come to achieve anything you want. Balance is very necessary in everything.
That’s so illuminating. Is there any message you hope readers of the Magazine will take away from “Collapse”?
Yes, there is this message, and it’s not very implicit. I’m sure readers will find it. Sometimes you have to be patient, and it’s okay not to be perfect all the time. It’s okay if your day didn’t go well, and it’s okay to collapse from the tasks that you couldn’t accomplish.
That’s wonderful. Thank you for that lovely message. Are you continuing to work with building blocks? Or are you going to experiment with other media?
I am experimenting right now with building blocks, and I’m working on a series which is a mixture of acrylics and oil paints.