When Wardah Alam lost her father as a teenager, the world became a quiet, uncertain place.
Years later, that silence has taken form in The Times, a deeply personal printmaking exhibition that explores memory, loss, and healing through the architectural language of her Mughal heritage.
“This was a very difficult time for me,” Alam said.
“Not financially but emotionally, and you have to search for your soul. Being 15 at the time, just being a teen is a very difficult time.”
Through traditional techniques like etching and aquatint, The Times captures intricate images of carved doorways, latticed windows, and archways, all drawn from Alam’s ancestors’ Mughal home.
Each print, in soft monotone, invites viewers into a quiet introspection.
“Every print is monotone, so it’s soothing. You want to see into the images and the motifs, and you can concentrate easier on these when you don’t have colour,” Alam said.
Alam’s journey to creating this body of work wasn’t easy.
Living in Craigieburn, she lacked access to nearby printmaking studios.
“I had to go too far to get to a studio. All these techniques I use are traditional like aqua-tinting and I needed the space to be able to do that,” she said.
In one standout piece, Tower of Silence, Alam captures the tension of grief.
“It’s like a Rapunzel, it makes you want to hold on to those emotions within yourself…but still there is a window, there is a door, there is hope.”
The Times is at the Gee Lee-Wik Doleen Gallery, Hume Global Learning Centre Craigieburn, until Sunday, September 21. Entry is free.
