Kingdom of Shadows by Fatima Khalid
Explore Mondoir Studio
Medium: Gouache and Engraving on Metal Leaf (copper) applied to Museum Board (acid free)
Dimensions: 57.2 x 73.7 cm
Year: 2025
Price: $800.00 USD
Status: available
This work is inspired by the journey of Rustam, the legendary hero from the Shahnameh (The Book of Kings). It reflects the eternal struggle between good and evil, reimagined within a contemporary setting, where ancient moral conflicts intersect with modern realities, power structures, and the complexities of our present world.
Why collect this work?
A densely patterned pavilion and garden rise above an exposed copper-toned field, making the heroic scene appear suspended over a second, less immediately legible narrative.
- Khalid identifies South Asian miniature painting and the Shahnameh as foundations for her practice. Here, that narrative inheritance is recast through contemporary devices resembling drones or surveillance cameras.
- The photograph shows a warrior moving through enlarged foliage beside an ornate structure. Below, faint engraved figures and horses spread across open ground, opposing vivid surface pattern with partial visibility.
- The documented combination of gouache and engraving on copper leaf permits two distinct registers: opaque colour above and fine linear imagery below. The metal may also change in appearance with viewing conditions.
- Encountering this work allows comparison between heroic storytelling and systems of observation. Rustam’s physical readiness is complicated by peripheral machines and an underlying scene that remains difficult to read.
About the Artist
Fatima Khalid
Fatima Khalid is an artist on Mondoir Studio. Artistic discipline: painting. Based in Dubai, AE.
Nationality: Pakistani
My practice delves into the layered construction of identity in a world increasingly defined by surveillance, displacement, and digital presence.
