OMMATIDIA 1 (HRITHIK ROSHAN) | 2004

C PRINT + DIASEC | 30 x 33.5 INCHES

Hero worship is a phenomenon common across continents and cultures, but in the subcontinent, especially in Pakistan, it includes several other dimensions. Here people adore heroes from a country that lies politically at a distant, yet geographically and culturally is so close. Rana explores this divide, difference and duality by composing faces of men from Lahore to create a portrait of Hrithik Roshan, the Indian film star. The artist not only comments upon the political and geographical relationship between the micro and macro images, but also alludes to the nature of seen and seeing; since what is viewed by ordinary citizens is an outside character, but when they watch the film, they identify with the movie star to the extent that they see themselves reflected in him. The work is a physical manifestation of that psychological transformation.

OMMATIDIA 2 (SALMAN KHAN) | 2004

C PRINT + DIASEC | 30 X 31 INCHES

Hero worship is a phenomenon common across continents and cultures, but in the subcontinent, especially in Pakistan, it includes several other dimensions. Here people adore heroes from a country that lies politically at a distant, yet geographically and culturally is so close. Rana explores this divide, difference and duality by composing faces of men from Lahore to create a portrait of Hrithik Roshan, the Indian film star. The artist not only comments upon the political and geographical relationship between the micro and macro images, but also alludes to the nature of seen and seeing; since what is viewed by ordinary citizens is an outside character, but when they watch the film, they identify with the movie star to the extent that they see themselves reflected in him. The work is a physical manifestation of that psychological transformation.

OMMATIDIA 3 (SHAHRUKH KHAN) | 2004

C PRINT + DIASEC | 30 X 31 INCHES

Hero worship is a phenomenon common across continents and cultures, but in the subcontinent, especially in Pakistan, it includes several other dimensions. Here people adore heroes from a country that lies politically at a distant, yet geographically and culturally is so close. Rana explores this divide, difference and duality by composing faces of men from Lahore to create a portrait of Hrithik Roshan, the Indian film star. The artist not only comments upon the political and geographical relationship between the micro and macro images, but also alludes to the nature of seen and seeing; since what is viewed by ordinary citizens is an outside character, but when they watch the film, they identify with the movie star to the extent that they see themselves reflected in him. The work is a physical manifestation of that psychological transformation.