Faiza Butt

My Love Plays in Heavenly Ways – 2, 2012,
Ink on polyester film, 83.8x113cm

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Exhibited at Glynn Vivian Gallery, Swansea in ‘Tigers & Dragons: India and Wales in Britain’ 23 May to 2 November 2025 curated by Katy Freer & Zehra Jumabhoy

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‘My practise borrows heavily from the history of crafts. This drawing references the craft tradition of blue and white porcelain. The story of cobalt blue and white porcelain initiates in China, travels through middle east and reaches into the farthest reaches of North Europe. In its journey, it grows, develops refinement, evolves in its purpose and writes the story of human creativity, beyond borders.

Using the iconic blue and white porcelain reference, I create my drawing, in fine dots. The narrative depicts a young girl, entrapped in a herculean embrace with Chinese dragon. The female child, is in contemporary drab, yet the ‘monster’ she slays is graphic and mythological.

I play with a range of associations and perceptions. The young girl, my daughter, takes the masculine heroic role of the ‘slayer’. The Nobel Chinese dragon is represented in a passive role. The rigid porcelain surface of ceramics is illustrated through a 2 dimensional medium and so on. A fine crack travels through the surface, reminding us of imperfection, fragility and uncertainty of life itself. As an artist, I continue to take my role as ‘myth buster’. I use the artistic license to be positively provocative, to challenge our comforts of associations and beliefs.’

Notes from the artist
@taimurhassan.collection