'Textures of Emotions' subverts feminine stereotypes

"Textures of Emotions," a solo exhibition by artist Mobina Zuberi, opens today at Gallery 6, Islamabad. The exhibition brings together 27 recent and selected works from two distinct yet interconnected strands of the artist's practice: her evocative paintings of women and her abstract compositions.

Mobina Zuberi's artistic journey spans several decades, beginning in the 1970s and evolving through a wide range of subjects, styles and approaches. Over the past decade, two particular bodies of work have occupied a significant place in her practice. Although her figurative paintings of women and her abstractions appear markedly different at first glance, both emerge from the artist's sensitivity to mood, expression, form and visual atmosphere. In both, Mobina is less concerned with describing the external world than with capturing something more elusive—the emotional quality of a moment.

The women in Mobina's paintings do not conform to familiar ideals of feminine beauty or to established archetypes. They are neither glamorous figures nor fairy-tale princesses, mythological characters, fertility symbols or folkloric heroines. Nor do they derive from the imagery of the traditional Mughal miniature. Instead, Mobina presents women in seemingly ordinary yet psychologically charged moments. Her figures appear absorbed in their own worlds, often caught in moments of introspection, stillness or quiet anticipation.

There is no deliberate grotesqueness or theatrical distortion in these works; neither does Mobina rely on overt nudity or exaggerated eroticism. Yet many of her figures possess a quiet sensuality and an alluring presence. Their appeal lies not in conventional physical perfection but in the suggestion of an inner life. They seem to exist somewhere between the personal and the universal, inviting the viewer to wonder about the thought, memory, desire or experience that may lie beyond the painted surface.

Her abstract paintings follow a different visual vocabulary, yet they too are deeply concerned with atmosphere and feeling. Here, the human figure disappears, and emotion is communicated through the relationships between shape, colour, space, texture and movement. Balance and spatial depth are carefully orchestrated to create compositions that engage the viewer beyond the immediately visible.