Nasreen Khan Clark

The body of work that I produced out of the RSA experience is a series of acrylic paintings on canvas that use highly stylized human figures interacting with animal figures in close proximity. We have a tendency to view the people on the ark as somehow “the elite”, the ones chosen to survive along with their menagerie of on-the-hoof meals and sacrifices. However, the ark is a zone of complete equality. Every living thing on that ark is there to be consumed—body and soul, either as a meal, a sacrifice to God, or as breeding stock.

During one RSA session we examined the work of Hokusai and his famous piece The Wave -after this, the question of perspective became central to my examination of the Noah story. Because we as participants we encouraged to bring our full selves, including our faith traditions, gender and orientation, and artistic histories to the project, I called on my experiences as a former sex worker and an avid amateur naturalist, camper, and hiker by combining nude human figures, with elements of the natural world, so that the viewer is made to feel unsure about where the human ends and the animal begins. 

The animal figure often obscures the viewers’ line of sight to the human figure.  The central piece, a woman with a snake, is titled God observing the world She has destroyed, with her conscience snaking around behind her. The stylized manner of the paintings is meant to be a comment on how I interpreted the Noah story. Humanity is neither “saved” or “redeemed” but are instead props in a violent act of a petulant deity. For me, that petulance, where should be divinity, produces the tension I aim to examine in my work.

Noah is not the hero of this story for me; he is the villain.  I am seeking to hear the voices of those that are drowning, not those on the ark.  That is where I find prophetic revelation and inspiration in the continued work of ecology and artistry.

About Nasreen Khan Clark

Nasreen Khan grew up in West Africa and Indonesia and moved to the American Midwest by way of New York City. She and her toddler son live in their bungalow on Indianapolis’ Near Westside. Her art is interdisciplinary, draws on her multicultural background for inspiration, and often combines her love of poetry with visual illustration. Her Indianapolis art is all a tribute to Haughville. Since moving to Indianapolis three years ago and putting down roots, becoming part of the fabric here has kept her grounded. Haughville has been the tableau for building community and exploring her queer identity.