ZAHRA MANSOOR
ART
Zahra Mansoor’s practice explores the space between our private and public selves, and the ways identity is shaped through our relationships with ourselves and others. Working through painting and performance, she moves between moments of intimacy and distance, the desire to be known and the need for privacy. This duality runs through her work, in the tension between what is revealed and what remains concealed.
Raised in Karachi, Pakistan, Zahra’s work is informed by the social and cultural environments she has moved through, often turning this enquiry inward. Working from direct observation, she focuses closely on fragments until familiar features and moments begin to lose their recognisable form. This proximity becomes a way of seeing differently, finding intimacy in details that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Within Topographies, her practice asks how our sense of identity is negotiated between our inner lives and our relationships with others, while navigating the expectations of places and traditions that surround us.
Artist's website:
https://zahramansoor.com
We have selected Haleem and Sheer Khurma, two dishes rooted in Pakistani domestic life and memories of Zahra’s childhood, to explore the artworks' themes of duality, intimacy, home and belonging.
FOOD
Haleem
Lentil & beef stew, Fried onions, Herb & ginger mayo
Echoes of Self Portrait (iv) can be found in Haleem through its layering and interplay between concealment and unveiling. Onions move through the dish in different forms — caramelised into the base until almost imperceptible, then reappearing as a fried garnish — allowing the same ingredient to be experienced differently when hidden within the dish as opposed to when revealed on its surface. Visually, the work’s flesh-like, organic tones contrast the ornamental precision of its Kundan border, creating a tension between intimacy and adornment.
Sheer Khurma Entremet
Vermicelli pudding, Date mousse
Dates, central to sheer khurma, connect the dessert to the South Asian Muslim tradition of enjoying it on Eid morning, following Chand Raat. The contrast between the airy mousse and the dense pudding centre echoes Zahra’s exploration of duality (between the public self and the intimate self).
