Untitled #3 (From the Demons Series)

With flair, wit and uncommon craftsmanship, Ambreen Butt, a Muslim born in Pakistan but now living in the United States, revives the exquisitely detailed medium of Persian and Indian miniature painting to explore modern issues like self-identity, clashes of cultural values, battles of the sexes, wars between good and evil and other knotty matters. Using pencil, gouache and other stuffs on various layers of paper and Mylar, she skillfully evokes the stylization and ornate patterning of the earlier works. (See lot 9).

But her stalwart protagonists are not the mannered courtesans, potentates, gods, goddesses and warriors of Mughul miniatures. They take the form of a youngish woman and her clones, dressed in casual Western sweat pants and a shirt, who often wields swords against demons, serpents, lions and other allegorical symbols. (G. Glueck, 'Art in Review; Ambreen Butt,' New York Times, July 8, 2005.)