Abdus Salaam | Falls of Abundance

"Beneath falls of abundance

Your light and all that it opens

I am less the water

And more a fragile cup..."

 

- Abdus Salaam 

We are an equilibrium of water and carbon, a balance of light and dark, life and death, with depths of meaning in these endless contrasts. The same stars that light the universe fade to dust and shine as light within us. It is a stage of spiritual growth, reflecting our intentions in relation to this universe we temporarily inhabit. 

Falls of Abundance, from the body of work The Space Between, invites us to the realm of the soul and the miracle that is life. First exhibited by Sara Khan and Igsaan Martin at Jaffer Modern, this exhibition invites the witnessing of our perfectly balanced universe, from the perspective of our primordially balanced selves.

Whether we choose to acknowledge this profound balance or not remains the question. 

Continuing Salaam's exploration of 'light painting', using light, chemicals, photographic paper - at times paired with an 8 x10 vintage camera system - the artist works in a darkroom using instinctual, and at times calculated gestures as mark making. The focus of this body of work is providential balance, pairing the scientific process of darkroom development with the artist's poetic intentions. Using clay, glass, acrylic paint, as well as words, he expounds on the poetic nature of the natural world and its relation to metaphysical realities. 

Life, the miracle of our expanding universe. By bearing witness to both the majesty of the universe and life itself, we give purpose to both the existence of the universe and to the ultimate reality that is our detachment from this plane. Without consciousness, this small cosmic body that is our home, floating in the darkness of space, would be but a scattered marble in an ocean of nothingness.