Jas Shalimar

70 Auburn Parade, Hawthorn East, Victoria 3123, AU

A Tenderness and a Tension, 2024

INDIA INK ON COTTON PAPER
28 × 20 cm
In this piece, I return to the chair—a simple yet profound object. The chair I depict is an exact copy of the one that hung from the ceiling in my childhood house, a space that nurtured my imagination. This chair has evolved into a symbol deeply embedded in the fabric of my practice, carrying layers of meaning that have accumulated over time. Building the replica with my father was a collaboration that transcended its physical form, becoming a vessel for memory, connection, and self-reflection. The chair has become more than just an object; it is a metaphor for the self and a space where the soul can settle. As this symbol has woven itself into my work, it has taken on new significance, serving as a silent witness to my explorations of identity and vulnerability. It holds within its form the essence of my journey—a personal and universal journey, speaking to how we all seek to understand and define ourselves within the spaces we inhabit. Like the chair, our bodies are vessels that carry us, our stories, our fears, and our hopes. They are spaces where we both protect and reveal and hold ourselves together in a world that is constantly asking everything of us. Through this work, I seek to explore the quiet, often unspoken aspects of selfhood—the moments where we pause, hesitate, and choose whether to share or withhold.

Jas Shalimar is a Queer multidisciplinary artist who explores themes of identity, home, temporality and the language of the body. She is inspired by the intricate details of everyday moments and seeks to reveal their ephemeral beauty and visual poetry. Working with ink, watercolour, wood, brass, found objects, and poetry, Jas draws upon the symbolic, metaphorical and physical histories embedded within materials to convey her ideas. Her lyrical practice is deeply influenced by her childhood, growing up in a unique house built by her carpenter father, where chairs hung from the ceiling and secret passageways threaded through the roof.
Jas graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours) from RMIT University in 2019 and held her first solo exhibition, Something Feels Familiar: Memorialising the Everyday, in 2023.

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