Exploring landscapes: A Walk in the Park — solo show by Michelle Farooqi

LAHORE: A solo exhibition, A Walk in the Park, commenced at Alhamra Art Gallery on Monday. It is featuring the work of Michelle Farooqi. The artist has displayed 18 landscapes rendered using pastels.

Farooqi was born in Quetta and grew up in Karachi. Following her marriage, she lived in Canada for 15 years and moved to Lahore about two years ago. She studied at the Ontario College of Art and Design, Toronto (OCAD) for three years and then moved to The Academy of Realist Art, Toronto.

“I started my career in portraiture as I took formal training in figure drawing, still life and portraiture. That was something I was very passionate about,” she said.

She said that she had really wanted to excel. “I have always been fascinated by classical landscape artists and landscape paintings in general,” she said. Farooqi said that she had always wanted to venture into the genre, but as she was not trained in it, she was hesitant.

“Pastels always fascinated me and I wanted to use the medium. Unfortunately, it was not taught in the school where I studied,” she said. One day, she just started using pastels to do two-object still-life drawings. “From there I carried on and did a portrait. Then I started landscapes. The [good] thing with pastels is instant gratification. It is not like oil paints.

With oil, you have to use several layers and it takes two to three weeks to see the finished product. With pastels, after a few strokes you can see what the end result is going to be. That is what I love about it,” said Farooqi. She said that pastels had the look and feel of oil paints and the vibrancy of the colours remained intact. “Much as I had loved oil paints, pastels became another medium that really captivated me,” she said.

Farooqi said her first landscape paintings were on display. She said she hoped to do many more.

Quddus Mirza, art teacher, said that the landscapes revealed Farooqi’s keen eye for detail. “One notices a peculiar peacefulness in her depiction of passages and lanes in gardens. The repose apparent in these paintings cannot be separated,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 2^nd, 2016.