March 1 through March 27, 2008
Exton Square Studio

Opening Reception

Saturday, March 1st, 2008 - 1:00 to 5:00 p.m.

free & open to the public

Rumi Poetry Reading at 3:00 p.m.

Exton Square Mall, Lower Level
Exton, PA

Featured Artist

Tehzib Morad, a native of Pakistan who draws inspiration from the Persian poet Rumi (1207-1273). The exhibit, entitled In Art and Love One is Alone, is a timely one: Rumi is one of the most widely read poets in America today, much in the way The Prophet (Kahlil Gibran, also a Sufi Muslim poet) was nearly universally known in the 1960s and 70s.

Artists typically draw inspiration from many sources, but it's not often that a contemporary look is derived from the love poems of a 800-year-old poet named Rumi and the style of the Persian miniature. A new exhibit at the Exton Square Studio features paintings that do just that. Artist Tehzib Morad, a native of Pakistan who now lives in Montreal, sees her latest work highlighting what she calls the insight and wisdom of Rumi as merely a continuation of her own personal creative process. "To me, art is always an expression of one's instincts and emotions reconciled with one's social experience and culture heritage," Morad says. Still, Morad said that her interest in Rumi had a practical beginning. "I started this work in ‘07 because UNESCO has named 2007 the International Year of Rumi," Morad said in an email message.

The dozen or so paintings Morad plans to exhibit at the Exton Mall are not necessarily all tiny in size, ranging from 2 " x 3 " to 10" x 13." However, they recall ancient Persian miniature in perspective and style, most notably in such imagery as fanciful trees, birds in flight and island-like clouds. Inspired by the poetry of Rumi, Morad's current series is lively and vibrant. But her paintings also reflect the complicated symbolism and philosphies of the early Persians including the ideas of the Sufi Muslims who wrote of the soul's need to be liberated from this world to enter the next, according to Morad. In her painting, "Take it Away," Morad depicts a woman coming out of a lotus flower, the symbol of love. "You see lots of symbols of two – two birds, two trees – but also a border separating the two worlds. The image is like my own soul trapped in the body of a flower," she said.

Appropriately, Morad takes a personal approach to her work, often preparing her own water-based pigments and using her own hand-prepared paper. Described as "WASLI," the technique involves layering and then burnishing many pieces of thin paper. Morad said that she also adds tea leaves, dried flowers and leaves to her work depending on the subject of the painting. She learned such techniques while studying for her Master's in Fine Art at the University of Punjab in Pakistan. (She was also taught how to make the sparse, spuirrel-hair brushes used in painting miniatures, though she confesses she dislikes the time-consuming task and now uses commerically-made brushes.)

While she specialized in miniature painting for her Master's, Morad said that she had turned to that style of painting years ago, partly because she loves to research techniques and artistic ideas. "For me, creativity is an essential part of my daily life," Morad says.

Her solo show continues through March 27th at the Exton Square, a private gallery and classroom space run in collaboration with the Exton Square Mall and the Chester County Art Association (CCAA). The Exton Square Studio is located on the lower level of the Exton Square Mall in Exton, PA.( Gallery hours are 11:00am - 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.)