Saudade #3

About Saudade #3

This contemporary abstract mixed media composition is red in colour.

The enigmatic and lyrical artwork of Shireen Kamran is rooted in her own spiritual journey and her rich Pakistani heritage. This composition, one of a series, is rendered in expressive gestural brushstrokes in a lush palette of chilli pepper red (a common spice used in Pakistani cuisine) with pale blue and white highlights. Calligraphic markings and paint drips add movement and visible texture.
“Layered forms may bring to mind silhouetted architecture, minarets and towers.” Kamran’s dramatic work explores a personal narrative that speaks to ‘cultural displacement and a memory of people and places.’ In Portuguese, the word ‘Saudade’ means ‘missing’ and conveys a nostalgic longing for an absent place or person.

“I find my work--I think it reaches into other times and places.” Shireen Kamran

Shireen Kamran received a BSc. degree from the University of Peshawar, Pakistan and a BFA from Concordia University, Montreal. Her work is held in private collections in Canada and abroad.

Read about Shireen Kamran’s identity of abstraction in the artist expressing herself via colour and formlessness in "A Silent Devotion" by Aasim Akhtar.