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The foundation for this work is Ascension of Solomon, a Safavid painting from the early 1500s now in the Freer Gallery in Washington, DC. Sikander disrupts the notion of sovereignty by removing King Solomon and handing the empty seat of power to her Indian and Greek female protagonists, who share or vie for control.
Shahzia Sikander (born 1969)
Sly Offering, 2001
Watercolor and inkjet outline on tea-stained wasli paper
Collection of Judy and Robert Mann
© Shahzia Sikander. Courtesy: the artist, Sean Kelly, New York and Pilar Corrias, London.