The use of children’s toys eerily wrapped in bandages as subject matter and iconic reductive technique of scraping away at a black latex surface line by line gives rise to meticulously rendered, seemingly three-dimensional forms. The resulting figures, set against a stark black expanse as background, are simultaneously haunting, imposing and imbued with an intense sense of loneliness. They mirror the isolation and confusion that are the increasingly common by-products of our ever more connected yet somehow ever more fragmented societies. As cultures clash, ideologies metastasize, and socio-political conflicts and inequalities intensify, Zafar’s figures, while culled from the collective memories of our childhoods, embody the sense of desperation, helplessness and darkness that can result from our increasingly complex and volatile global situation. These drifting creatures seem to have been created to either perpetually ponder the purpose of their existence in a world they cannot clearly see or understand, or be cursed with the sight and knowledge of the true void in which they exist. Soon after concluding his studies Zafar spent time working as an illustrator, an experience that greatly influenced his practice. The form of his signature work has since evolved to a haunting depiction of monochromatic images and his fascination with black and white pushes his medium and practice towards newer directions and exploration with broader connotations. Zafar always interested in history relates to the modern time and re-contextualizes timeline, connoting the credence, countries, conquests and casualties that have occurred to shape social, cultural, religious and political identities, as they stand today.