The Swell, 2025
For Saara Nahar, art is inseparable from life, a practice of presence, rooted in landscapes, philosophy, and mindfulness. A transformative journey to the trans Himalayan region of Ladakh became central to her work, where the vast mountains, fragile ecosystems, and resilient communities opened her to the Buddhist philosophies of interconnectedness and impermanence.
on Through drawing, graphite works, poetry, photography, and artist books, Saara reflects how landscapes shape human perception, memory, and existence. Her large-scale graphite drawings are built through chance, frottage, and layering, echoing the tactility mountains, rocks, and textures of Ladakh. Works like Rock Face, Approaching Sandstorm, and Settlement blur the boundary between abstraction and landscape, showing how marks, like mountains, hold both accident and intention.
Her practice resists speed and distraction, instead cultivating slowness, sensitivity, and attention. By reinterpreting her drawings into books and layered compositions, she creates spaces where image, memory, and poetry coexist. In works like Homecoming, she writes of Ladakhi life with tenderness, while juxtaposing text and image to reflect on change, tradition, and the encroachment of modernity.
