Mindy Solomon Gallery

The vibrancy of the light filtering through the dense green forest of Śūnyatā, Kenosis hums at a quiet resonance, the gold embroidery of the greyscale figure’s red net bridal dupatta glittering through the leaves. According to Buddhist philosophy, Śūnyatā is the spiritual voidness from which all entities and connections spring from; it is not a negation, rather a primordial and necessary door to self-liberation. Kenosis, coming from Christian theology, is the ‘self-emptying’ that Jesus undertook to ready himself for the power of God’s will. The recontextualization of “emptiness” from an inherently negative connotation into ‘phase one’ of a greater spiritual evolution sat at the core of Waheed’s intentions. In Nexus a high contrast figure brushes eyelashes with a star studded universal being. The largest and most recent work, The Last Three Months (Lilies) is Waheed’s depiction of her ‘phase two’. Suspended on the surface of a sea of lily pads that stretch deep into the horizon, a greyscale figure kneels in the water, glittering ripples moving outward. Hands cupped open in her lap, a halo of flyaways illuminated in the setting light. This isn’t a painting of enlightenment, this isn’t pure elevation or nirvana. She is still connected, still earth-bound and carrying mortal burden. Her expression is weighted, but her shoulders relaxed. She is in balance, harmonious. The frisson of internal and external is quieted. The unnecessary has fallen away, and only the truth remains.