Ali Kazim
Pakistan b.1979

Untitled (cloud series) 2018
Pigments on mylar

Untitled (storm series) 2018
Pigments on mylar

Purchased 2018 with funds from the Contemporary Patrons through the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation

Ali Kazim’s two small drawings capture the shifting weather over the ancient ruins in the Punjab region of Pakistan, once home to the vibrant Bronze Age civilisation of the Indus Valley. Through Untitled (cloud series) and Untitled (storm series) 2018 Kazim conjures the remarkable cultures that evolved under these skies and contemplates their demise. The fleeting cloud, forming from vapour and eventually dissipating, acts as a metaphor for the disintegration of influence.

Working on polyester film allows Kazim to treat tiny particles with particular attention. Black pigment is worked with cotton or soft brushes to create an atmospheric field, while stencils and erasers are used to describe floating pottery shards, dust and storm clouds. The artist describes dust in fine detail. Studying its capacity to both preserve and destroy layers of history, and exploring how dust can reveal traces of civilisations as it shifts and moves. Capturing such transient moments, as climatic forces draw sleeping ruins out of stasis, Ali Kazim’s subtle images ruminate on the passage of time.