Mehwish Iqbal Catalogue

23 October 2019

MEHWISH IQBAL
THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US
31 Oct - 16 Nov 2019
Opening Thursday 31 October, 6-8pm

Through the unavoidable consequences of living—memories, ideas and experiences come in to being. The unique neurological strata of our thoughts—created from our earliest until our last—is a defining aspect of the ‘individual’. 

We live in a contemporary world with competing ideologies of nationalism, globalisation and the ever-present religious dissension—the hallmarks of our time. Throughout the globe, physical country borders are in a state of flux, coupled with the continual rise of the virtual world. Humanity can be forgiven for its crisis of identity and a seemingly endless search for the meaning to our existence.

It’s against this backdrop that Sydney based artist, Mehwish Iqbal’s delicate reflections of a life of contradictory experiences, provide a torch-lit path in an ever more complicated world. Mehwish grew up in the small city of Sangla Hill in Pakistan—a country that, at times, struggles with inherent freedoms—particularly for women. Yet, it is from this place that her voice has become strong and direct. Beyond the ephemeral experience of Iqbal’s work, her thematic discourse has struck a chord throughout the broader art world.  A recent exhibition in New York and recognition from major private and institutional collections has built momentum for the artist. 

There is a delicate monumentality that pervades the artist's first exhibition at Nanda\Hobbs, titled The Distance Between Us.  Iqbal’s Intricately crafted works speak of the stories of her childhood; her relationship with her mother and of being a mother herself in a different culture from that of her birth. Layers of text embroidered and woven through translucent drawings and prints float hypnotically throughout the picture plane. For the audience, this dreamlike state we are invited to enter is the artist’s deeply personal world. 

The experience of drilling through the layers of Mehwish’s personal history is a process that connects us with the fragments of our own lives—often buried in the detritus of living. Culturally, our journey may be very different from Iqbal’s, yet, the memory fragments—the touch of a mother’s hand; the fleeting moment from a dream; the memory of a story, are reminiscent of our own. To look for the literal in Iqbal’s world is to misinterpret the intention. The real reading comes from the experience of reaching into the artist’s soul and being confronted with the story of your own existence.

Ralph Hobbs
October, 2019

 

VIEW CATALOGUE

News

Nanda\Hobbs artist Braddon Snape named finalist in prestigious Deakin University Contemporary Small Sculpture Award

11 July 2025

Acclaimed Australian sculptor Braddon Snape has been announced as a finalist in the 2025 Deakin University Contemporary Small Sculpture Award, now in its 16th year. Snape’s entry, Act of Suppression (mirrored union) (2024), was selected from a record 735 submissions—a testament to the work’s technical innovation and conceptual strength.

Read more
News

Christopher Horder feature in Qantas Magazine: Travel Insider

9 July 2025

When Sydney-born painter Christopher Horder was in Year 10, his English teacher gave him Jack Kerouac’s 1957 novel On The Road. Influenced by its anti-conformist message, Horder left school a year later to enrol in a Diploma of Fine Arts at TAFE. “I had to go and start doing what I wanted to do,” he says. Soon after, Horder rented a space at Lennox Street Studios in Sydney’s Newtown, where, aside from a productive year in Berlin in 2010, he’s been painting on and off for 30 years. 

Read more
NH Event

IN CONVERSATION: CAROLINE ZILINSKY & MEGAN MONTE

23 June 2025

Join us in the gallery or an in-depth conversation between Caroline Zilinsky and Megan Monte, Director of Ngununggula, Southern Highlands Regional Gallery. Together, they'll unpack the themes, tensions, and contradictions that shape Mirror Mirror.

Saturday 28 June, 12 - 1pm.

Read more
12 - 14 Meagher Street Chippendale, NSW 2008
Opening Hours
Monday to Friday, 9am - 5pm Saturday, 11am - 4pm Easter 2025: The gallery will closed from 18 - 21 April Closed Public Holidays (and Easter Saturday)