I grew up in Karachi, Pakistan, and I have from a very young age been found happiest at my little table or desk drawing or painting or working with my hands. In fact, on a school admission application form, my mother wrote of my sense of responsibility: “cleans up her desk after painting.” I was 3 then – little seems to have changed.

I come from a family of artists and creative women, so this path has felt natural to me. After A level Art however, I chose not to pursue art school, which I’ve regretted time and again, but schooling myself over the years and finding joy and purpose in my creative life has been a unique path of its own, and I am grateful for it.

Having explored a range of mediums, I feel that multidisciplinary is an appropriate term to describe myself. I find my world is richer when I am bouncing back and forth between subjects and mediums. My practice is currently a shape-shifting combination of painting, illustration, writing, photography & video, and lately, bookbinding. I enjoy the sense of trusting the unknown when painting, the grounding potential of a step-by-step craft and book project, and making sense of it all through writing. 

Always drawn to and inspired by light and shadow, across mediums, I primarily make figurative and landscape paintings of life in traditional media – specifically gouache and oils, but I also work with acrylics, pencil, pen, and markers. I try to keep my sketching practice alive by carrying around a small (handmade) notebook and drawing pens. I also teach workshops on painting and bookbinding.