The Open Studio / Zara Malik
Zara Malik
Gaar-e-soor
A spider keeps watch while the horses run past
Sand you could lift with your fingers, raked into soft rows.
A crust of broken brick, the colour of old roofs.
The sky is burnt honey, scratched with thin white threads.
Two horses hurry under a net they do not see.
The spider is larger than the hills and very still.
At the corner, a deep red waits at the edge of the sand.
The work
Zara Malik of Aligarh Muslim University makes Gaar-e-soor in 2025. Real sand covers the lower part of the work. A line of brick-red crumbs runs along its edge. Above it she paints a brown desert with dark hills. Two horses run under a web. A large spider stands guard on the right. Malik often works with soil, dust and brick pieces. She says ideas from Islamic texts sometimes start her work. She uses them to think about protection and compassion.
- Theme
- Shelter in the desert
- Material
- Mixed media
- Year
- 2025
- Edition
- Handle with care
- Framed
- No
- About the artist
- Aligarh Muslim University
- From
- Aligarh
- Code
- RC-452
In the artist’s words
I work with painting, photography, printmaking, installation, and found materials. A lot of my work starts from things I see or experience in everyday life memory, silence, identity, emotions, spirituality, and social realities. I often use materials like soil, dust, ash, coal, brick pieces, fabric, paper, and other found objects. I am interested in what these materials already carry their marks, textures, memories, and connection to a place. I like working with them physically, layering, breaking, covering, removing, and rebuilding things. Many of my works come from questions rather than clear answers. I think about what we see, what we ignore, and why we sometimes remain silent when something is…
