Challenging conventional binaries of existence

The materials she uses-paper, graphite, glass, metal, or found objects-carry their own histories and tactility

- Dilpreet Bhullar

The pauses that Ayesha Sultana takes during a conversation are just as significant as the works she creates. These brief silences offer opportune moments for the viewer or listener to understand the workings of the artist's mind, and to soak in the conceptual subtlety of the abstract works that she creates.

The Bangladesh-born, US-based artist has emerged as a major voice in the contemporary arts ecosystem in the Global South. She has exhibited in India with galleries such as Experimenter and is a member of the artist-run collective, Britto Arts Trust, in Dhaka.

Sultana is now showing at her first comprehensive solo exhibition in the GCC, or the Gulf Cooperation Council. Her show, Fragility and Resilience, is on view at the Ishara Art Foundation, Dubai, till 7 December. It features a range of works, including her first-ever hand-blown glass sculptures, oil paintings and watercolours on Japanese silk tissue. "Sultana's work delves into themes of ecological, social, and personal upheaval, challenging the conventional binaries between fragility and resilience," states the exhibition note. And indeed, the title of the exhibition offers an insight into the multiple series such as The Blue of Distance, Breath Count, Nightfall, Pools, Threshold and Inhabiting our Bodies-each suggesting the experiences of vulnerabilities and strength.