My practice does not seek to explain but to register presence, hold form, and trace what eludes language. Each work becomes a site of encounter, a pause within impermanence, where transformation, rather than permanence, is held.
I approach abstraction not as a departure from reality but as a way of entering its deeper strata, between what endures and what disappears. While painting remains central, I also work across time-based and hybrid digital forms, exploring memory and temporality as spaces of reflection and awareness. Here, the fleeting may be felt, the unseen may surface, and resonance lingers.
Photo Courtesy: Nael Quraishi
Curriculum Vitae
Awards & Grants
2023 — Grantee, Patakha Pictures – Stories from Southern Pakistan
2022 — Finalist, The Sovereign Asian Art Prize
2022 — Grantee, British Council Pakistan | PKUK New Perspectives
2021 — Recipient, ADA Award, Architecture Design Art Awards
Solo Exhibitions
2024 — Temporary Homes Cast Temporary Shadows, Koel Gallery, Karachi
2020 — Between Light (Mid-Career Retrospective), Koel Gallery, Karachi
2018 — All that is, is held, Canvas Gallery, Karachi
2016 — Open Presence, Koel Gallery, Karachi
2013 — Liminal, Khaas Art Gallery, Islamabad
2013 — Continuous / Present, Rothas II, Lahore
2012 — Letters from An Underground Vein Read, Koel Gallery, Karachi
1998 — Indus Gallery, Karachi
1997 — The Art Gallery, Islamabad
1995 — NCA Gallery, Lahore
1995 — Gallery Ardeco, Avignon, France
Selected Group Exhibitions
International
2024 — MANZAR: Art & Architecture from Pakistan 1940s to Today, National Museum of Qatar, Doha, Qatar
2024 — Anonymous Exhibition, Sovereign Art Foundation, Art Central, Hong Kong
2023 — Flow, Mission Gallery, Swansea, Wales
2022 — The 2022 Sovereign Asian Art Prize Finalists Exhibition, Art Central, Hong Kong
2014 — Mostra Internazionale di Pittura, Matera, Italy
2013 — Pakistani Art Supporting WFP, Christie’s, Dubai, UAE
2012 — Abstract Art in Contemporary Russia, Moscow, Russia
Pakistan
2026 — Traces: Drawing Practices Now, Curated by Hassan Sheikh, COMO Museum, Lahore
2026 — Haus Edit Vol. 01, Curated by Zarmeene Shah and Studio Sera, Lightwell Residence, Karachi
2025 — Dialogues Across Time, Curated by Saira Danish Ahmed, Chawkandi Art, Karachi
2024 — 125th Show, Curated by Arjumand Faisel, Gallery 6, Islamabad
2022 — Sculptor/Sculpture, Como Museum, Lahore
2022 — Lines of Inquiry, Curated by Nusrat Khawja, Chawkandi Art Gallery, Karachi
2022 — Something Borrowed Something New, Curated by Arshad Faruqi, Copper and Steel, Karachi
2021 — Khat-o-Kitabat: Connecting Past Present Future, Curated by R.M. Naeem and Nurayah Sheikh Nabi, O’Art Space, Lahore
2017 — Recorded Time, Curated by Sadia Salim, Koel Gallery, Karachi
2016 — Open Field: Contemporary Art from Pakistan, Curated by Aasim Akhtar, Kuch Khaas, Islamabad
Full list available on request.
Biennales
2025 — Ekim Gecidi Istanbul Biennale, Istanbul, Turkey
2019 — Uluslararası Istanbul Biennale, Turkey
2017 — Karachi Biennale, Pakistan
2013 — Bodrum Biennial, Turkey
2011 — Biennial Izmir, Turkey
Residencies
2017 — Recorded Time, Koel Gallery, Karachi
2013 — Hic - 2 Workshop, Turgutreis / Bodrum, Turkey
2011 — Winter Academy, Fayoum, Egypt
2010 — International Painting Symposium, Luxor, Egypt
1996 — Association Saint-Henri, France
Public Art Festivals
2020 — IPAF Karachi ki khoj: Redefining the Metropolis, NED University, Karachi
Fairs & Auctions
2024 — Anonymous Exhibition, Sovereign Art Foundation, Art Central, Hong Kong
2022 — The Sovereign Asian Art Prize, Art Central, Hong Kong
2013 — Pakistani Art Supporting WFP, Christie’s, Dubai
Collections
Permanent Collection — HBL Mega Towers, Karachi
Permanent Collection — Rangoonwala Foundation, UK
Private Collections — Europe, USA, and Asia
Publications
2020 — Monograph: Between Light: Ayessha Quraishi – Works: 1985–2020