A Gesture of Othering. Stephen Doyle Indo-Persian Miniature. Amna Walayat.

Stephen Doyle, Attending Colaiste, 2021; image courtesy the artist.

PAINTING IS TO be considered a form of language. I find text and the spoken word to be limiting when trying to express my thoughts or opinions. Creating a painting can be this considered discussion with oneself on a certain subject matter. It allows for contradictions, no matter how well researched or considered. Personal views cannot hide in brush strokes; it is a public declaration to the world about how you see it. Honest, vulnerable and beautiful, painting is a universal language.

Therefore, I don’t subscribe to the traditional limitations of what a painting should be. I find it restrictive, keeping within the boundaries of ‘paint on a canvas’. This stance stems from my relationship with the ‘traditional’, which has historically not accommodated for minority expression. Speaking as a queer person, I cannot help but draw parallels to conformity. Why limit expression? Why repeat conversations that have been told generation after generation in a uniform way? Why not help redefine it to be inclusive?

My practice explores issues of queer identity through the relationship between figuration and the politics of representation. I focus on LGBTQIA+ issues through the figure and often include three-dimensional objects in the paintings – a gesture of ‘othering’ the art that mirrors the subject matter it investigates. Painting, and portraiture in particular, is associated with the iconography of power (for example, through depictions of politicians and religious figures), and consequently with mainstream worldviews. By invoking these associations, it makes an ironic comment on the subalternisation of the existence of the LGBTQIA+ community, and simultaneously illuminates the invisible amongst us.

To date, this approach towards creative exploration has allowed me to stand out amongst many other talented visual artists, both nationally and internationally. Placing a metal rod over my painting, Man and Subject (2018), had Ashurst Emerging Art Prize judges asking questions. That minimalist inflection of material to an otherwise traditional painting drew people in and from there, allowed a discussion on the value of the ‘hyper-masculine’. The piece was transformed from a proportionate, colour balanced painting into an artwork that captures a topic of importance in contemporary discourse.

Following this, I shaped a neon bulb in response to meeting a young man who impressed me with his strength. After sitting down and talking with him, I knew the work required a new energy, a material that was powerful and alive, something that was beyond the capabilities of pigment and oils. Dylan is ainm dom… (2018) was shortlisted for the Zurich Portrait Prize 2018 and put the identity of transgender people in the National Gallery of Ireland without hidden symbolism for the first time. It now sits in the Crawford Art Gallery, reminding the public of their value within our society.

During 2020, like many artists, I had no access to my studio and spent too much time in my head. I began revisiting experiences of secondary school and how they shaped my adulthood. My mentor suggested undertaking psychoanalysis sessions and I began understanding these feelings of self-preservation through disassociation. Deflecting and compartmentalising queerness to fit in with hetero/cis social norms just to avoid conflict, visualised itself as a tug-ofwar between a past and present self. The physical presence of the rope in Attending Colaiste (2021) converts a mental obstacle into reality. It takes a situation that crippled me and makes it easier to reconcile. Further to that, by occupying the same space that the viewer is present in, it gives them access to the work and helps break down stigma around mental health. It’s inconceivable in hindsight to think the piece would be as successful if it was restricted to a two-dimensional surface.

In fact, I am sure none of these pivotal points in my career would have occurred without an outsider perspective approach to painting. I am currently working on a new solo show exploring the effects of isolation and removal of safe spaces for queer people through various media, both old and new. I am also working with Cork Pride as their artist-in-residence and expanding my practice to collaborate with other contemporary artists who inspire me.

Stephen Doyle is a Cork-based visual artist working from Backwater Studios. @stephendoyleart stephendoyleartist.ie I AM A CORK-BASED, Pakistani-born, emerging visual artist. My parents wanted me to become a doctor. I got admission to pre-medical, but quit for art education at The College of Art and Design, University of Punjab, Lahore. Initially my parents resisted but later supported my passion.

After my masters, I joined the National Art Gallery, Islamabad as Programme Organiser for three years, and later worked with Alhamra Arts Council, Lahore, as curator for a year. Meanwhile I was undertaking a studio-based PhD with Punjab University but unfortunately after studying for four years, I was unable to submit my final thesis, due to marriage and emigration. After living for two years in the UK and for several years in France, I moved to Ireland. I completed an MA in Modern and Contemporary Art History, Theory and Criticism at UCC.

Working from home during lockdown suited me well. I shifted to Indo-Persian miniature painting, a discipline deriving from a rich tradition of book illustration and storytelling. I am interested in hybrid cultural experience and my work exists in the milieu of two distinct societies. I want to communicate with Irish or European society in my native visual language about the world I am experiencing. My work revolves around themes of slavery, feminism, colonisation, migration and displacement. Religious imagery often features in my work, from the Buddhist symbol of the Lotus to depictions of suffering in the Pieta.

My current work focusses on the control of women by state or society, and cultures of violence, shame and patriarchy. My work is also inspired by the language and spiritual aspects of Persian poetry. Phrases that are commonly associated with a woman’s unacceptable or rebellious actions, considered misdeeds or sins, include “she got the nose of her family chopped off” or “she is playing with the turban of the family”. In my work one can see indications of such loaded or controlling language.

Like other miniature artists, I craft my own brushes with squirrel tail hair. Many of the colours I make by myself from organic or natural resources. Tea and coffee washes, Gum Arabic, honey, gold, silver, Lapis Lazuli, Malachite and Azurite are commonly used, alongside high-quality readymade materials.

During lockdown at the start of 2021, I exhibited virtually at LHQ Gallery, Cork, in a two-person show, ‘Constellation’, with artist Carol Reid White. Some of the artworks I created for that show were selected by Seán Kissane, Curator of Exhibitions at IMMA, for the ‘Narrow Gate of the Here-and-Now’ – a year-long, museum-wide exhibition showcasing the IMMA Collection. This was a remarkable opportunity to exhibit my work among leading contemporary artists. I was commissioned to participate in Dublin Arts and Human Rights Festival by Smashing Times in October, and that same month, I exhibited in RHA Annual Exhibition for the first time. I am a recipient of the Arts Council Ireland Agility Award and Next Generation Award 2021.

I am interested in promoting South Asian identity in Ireland, so have independently established the Ireland-Pakistan Arts Exchange. I gathered Pakistani artists working in Ireland via an open-call and personal connections and exhibited their work virtually with the support of the Embassy of Pakistan in Dublin. Under the mentorship of staff at The Glucksman, I am currently developing plans to bring the work of Irish artists to the Karachi Art Biennale – Pakistan’s most high-profile international art event.

As Creative Producer-in-Residence with Cork County Council (supported by Creative Ireland), I am working on a South Asian community-based project, the ‘South Asian Community Museum’. Under the same project, I secured a residency with Uillinn West Cork Art Centre in December. As recipient of the Dilkusha Award, I finished a yearlong course with Cork Printmakers in December. Currently I am participating in a professional development programme, ‘Project Intensive’, with Project Art Centre.

Future projects include ‘Multicultural Cuisine’ with The Guesthouse and Good Day Cork, supported by local business and Cork City Council; ‘Connection’ for Pluck Projects (curated by Sarah Kelleher and Rachel Warriner) during Cork Midsummer Festival 2022; ‘With Other Matter’ curated by Naomi Draper, at Roscommon Arts Centre in July; and Art Nomads ‘Souk Bazar’ – a participatory and collaborative film project funded by Arts Council Ireland.

Amna Walayat is a visual artist based in Cork. amnawalayat.com