Eight talented artists to showcase their work in capital

Portraits, sketches and miniature works included in new exhibition

ISLAMABAD: It is always intriguing and refreshing to watch the world from the fresh perspective of youngsters.

In this regard, Gallery 6 in Islamabad is organising a group exhibition by eight young artists from around the country.

Called “The Onrushing 2”, it features Doda Khan Badini from Quetta, Faiz Supro from Hyderabad, Javed Iqbal Mughal from Sheikhupura, Kishwar Kiani from Rawalpindi, Maham Mujtaba, Rubab Jawaid, and Unab Sumbal from Lahore, while Sajjad Nawaz hails from South Punjab.

Badini is the odd one out from the group since the artist, who holds a Bachelor of Sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,  is the only one who is a self-taught artist.

A relative of fabled Baloch artist Akram Dost, art is in his genes. However, unlike Dost, Badini sketches portraits of either gender. In his work, bold lines are a defining characteristic — almost as strong as the subjects he chooses and painstakingly detailing features.

Supro, on the other hand, is from Hyderabad.

Having completed his Bachelors in Fine Arts from the Center of Excellence in Art and Design in Jamshoro, in 2012, he has been showcasing his work in group exhibitions on both sides of the Radcliffe.

His pen and ink fill his canvas with lines  — literal and figurative — in the way they reflect the deep lines of tradition and culture which he finds himself enveloped in.

Supro craftily uses colours, contrasted against a background of monochromatic characters, as if seeing century-old traditions in a new way.

“It is a mode of conversation for me that not only narrates cultural life but also subtly highlights its issues,” Supro said.

Mughal hails from Sheikhupura, but studied and works in Lahore. With a Masters in Arts (Hons) in Visual Arts from the National College of Arts (NCA), he deals with constant changes in life in his latest work.



He looks at how an individual modifies his attitude, habits, communication styles, passions, and ambitions as time and his circumstances change.

“We learn from our past deeds and try to improve ourselves,  every new moment comes with a new lesson, every new day blossoms with new opportunities and targets which portrays a new art frame according to the perceptions of the individual. Often, a new frame or a new turn is required in life for taking on the challenges courageously,” he explains. His work echoes that with the element of learning strong within its pop-inspired imagery.

Local girl Kiani too has recently entered the art field, having completed her BFA in Fine Arts from the Fatima Jinnah Women University in Rawalpindi in 2011. However, unlike her peers, she has not exhibited much, with this being her fifth group show.

Kiani says she is interested in exploring her memories and its prevalent efficacies since they mark the progression of the self.

“Through my drawings, I explore moments of stillness and sanctuary. I dig through the crevasses of my past and resurface with old and forgotten stories. I recreate tales of laughter, marks of companionship and relive the nostalgia… of lived moments, which one brushes off or locks away in dusty photo albums,” Kiani explains.

Mujtaba is perhaps the oldest amongst the group. Having graduated from NCA in 2002, she has been selective about where to show her work — comprising primarily of acrylics on canvas while exploring questions of identity and self, choosing to do so on four occasions in in Pakistan and one each in Dubai, Qatar and China.

Among the youngest artist in the group, Jawaid, like many others in the group, hails from Lahore. A miniaturist from NCA, she focuses on working on embroidery and fabric.

Jawaid believes that miniature and embroidery are both quite similar since both require one to be delicate and very intricate.



“As a child, I used to see my mother and grandmother doing embroidery and I was awestruck by it, but never could find the time to learn this. But now, as a miniature artist, I brought that theme in my work,” she says as she admits that her work does not include any real embroidery but it is painted on.

“I have been painting fabric of cross stitch, threads, embroidery and net. The medium I am working on is gouache on handmade paper and sometimes collage as well.”

Like, Jawaid, Sumbal is among the youngest artists of the group. Unlike others, she hails from the College of Art and Design at the University of Punjab rather than NCA.

Her current work is titled “profound reflection” which narrates the impact of people and places in the surrounding environment on an individual, hence painting elements she interacts with every day, using bright colours and even black and white to good effect to signify the relationship between her subjects and their joint surroundings.

“No matter how conscious we are about the people we meet or places we visit, there are always circumstances that linger on with us. And whether we think about these people or places often or not, they matter and leave a profound mark on our life.”

Nawaz, who hails from Bahawalpur, is one of the most celebrated in the group, having a gold medal from the University College of Arts and Design and a Masters with distinction in Visual Arts from NCA. In 2016, he was selected for an artist’s fellowship at the prestigious Prince’s School of Traditional Arts in the UK.

Like many artists, Nawaz was initially influenced by his surroundings and indigenous cultural heritage. He thus started making portraits, and painting landscapes of forts and palaces that dot Cholistan.

However, he soon found that the desert or “Rohi” had become one of his main sources of inspiration.

The exhibition be will be inaugurated today (Saturday, November 25) and will continue daily until December 1.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 25^th, 2017.