Hasan Ali Kadiwala
Symbols of Life, 2025
Acrylic and laser engraving on torched wood
30 x 30 cm (each)
Copyright The Artist
During Bakr-Eid, goats sometimes bear inscriptions Allah, Ali, Mohammad applied with mehendi or revealed naturally through the patterns of their fur. In the marketplace, such animals are seen as extraordinary, carrying both faith and value. Growing up, I was fascinated by these markings, which turned a simple goat into a bearer of sacred signs. In this work on wood, I revisit those memories through six panels, each showing a goat in a distinct posture. Their bodies carry traces of script within the textures of their forms, echoing how I first encountered them in childhood. Around them, the landscape flows with shifting tones of earth and sky, creating a rhythm between the animal, the ground, and memory. The series becomes a meditation on devotion and presence, where ritual, nature, and personal history quietly converge.