ursuing vastly independent art practices the artists in the current three-person Canvas show, Connections, were initially assembled as a trio by curator Sameera Raja. The arrangement to exhibit collectively `opened the doors of communication` between them and Connections evolved as a show which is amalgamated yet autonomous. Centralised on the prevalent social and political chaos as a shared premise Madiha Hyder, Sabina Haq and Samina Jose Islam articulate , their stances without compromising their individual expres-.

sions.

Adept at representational painting Madiha Hyder inverts the directness of literal renderings by opting f`or an implicit vocabulary, braintcaser effects or uncanny juxtapositions. Her oil on digital print works in the current show impact on several accounts. Retaining her grip on realistic painting she portrays her protagonists merging/cmerging from a sea of digital newsprint graphics. This edge to edge newsprint coverage as wallpaper, as home dócor, as cityscape and subject costume emphasises information overload and how the media blitz has infiltrated the average citizen`s domestic life.

In paintings like `I am not alone`, `Three little birds` `Keep the flame burning` and `Pictures on my wall` the artist attempts to establish the inf`luence of breaking news, alarming headlines, aggressive marketing and consumerist dictates in the common man`s lif`e.

Overwhelmed but not engulfed, her subjects maintain an unruf`fled openness which signifies their ability to weather the storm.

In contrast to Hyder`s, nearmonochrome terse urban scenario of stark realities, Sabina Haq`s reaction to mayhem is emotionally charged. From close-up shots to distanced views she focuses on the reality that is and that which should be.

Her arts works like, `Land grabbers`, `Drone shadows coming home and smoke into trees (oil and archival pigments on canvas) personify existing devastation while `Peace treaty` `Waiting and wanting`, `Refuge and `The four cardinal points enunciate a f`ervent desire for peace and harmony.

Her wish list proclaims, `Maybe in my painted maps I can l`ind a route out, a place of refuge. Can I rebuild my home out ol` charred rubble; turn smoke into trees and burnt bark into the lour livings walls ol`my home?` This group participation follows a recent solo held earlythis year. Her mixed media signature of charting aerial maps/landscapes in vibrant chromatics and symbolic video game imagery gains some new approaches in this exhibition.

Other than abstracted/collagist stylisations she opts for realistic imagery like a bird cage, olive branches, parrots and doves, a tree house ete,. This new preference is still experimental and needs to be resolved amicably with her signature style to appear as cohesive and balanced as works such as `Four cardinal points` and `Drone shadows` or she can opt f`or new directions.

Welcoming the comfort zone of sleep as a natural respite from troubling anxieties and external influences, Samina Jose Islam chooses to centralise her paintings around the act of sleeping, where, she feels `every humanbeing comes down to the same level.` Her figurative paintings, oil on canvas, focus on the relaxation, case and wholesomeness which states of slumber can induce to evoke a sense of normaley in an otherwise skewed environment.

Some works point to slumber as escapism a deliberate avoidance of facing realities.

Technically there is consistency in her direct and simplistic rendering of her subjects and her style has the potential of growth.

Three specific attitudes detailing as many trajectories, Hyder`s stoic review of``our collective present space`, Haq`s `transf`ormative mapping: the space it could be,` and Islam`s `human psychological space of awareness,` gives Connections the necessary context and connectivity it needs to function as an integrated show. E