FAUZIA KHAN – Artwadi

1. Bibliographic Note

Fauzia Khan is an artist of various disciplines. She started out as a landscape artist in 1979 but first came into the art scene in 1991 when she took part in a two-person show at Gallery Sadequain. Since that time, she has evolved into more than just being a painter. Over the years she has experimented with various mediums and proved her mastership in all. She started off with oil paintings and then moved on to Glass and Stone painting and then back to oil and acrylic painting. One thing which has remained a constant in all these years is her fascination with nature and colors which can be seen in her paintings. In stone painting, she found the beauty within the stone’s original form and wanted to highlight it to the world. For this purpose, she took raw stones and painted on them various figures and landscapes. A unique form of art and first in the country. Fauzia’s series on “Roots” is one of her finest works. This series established her firmly as a fine artist in the art world and became synonymous with her name.

She moved on to become inspired by the sufiana kalam and performed by Late Ustad Nusat Fateh Ali Khan and Abida Perveen. Wanting to bring the beauty of the kalam to the attention of the world in the form of visual art, she combined the two by painting a complete picture on canvas, ‘live’ on stage, in accordance to the kalam sung by Naeem Abbas Rufi, at Alliance Francaise. This made her the pioneer in painting ‘live’ according to the lyrics. She also went on to demonstrate this on live television morning shows. She went on to do her own show “Tere Rung Rung” in which she showed viewers various types of painting styles by painting them herself and then interviewing painters of different fields of art about their styles, making this the first show of its kind on television. The concept, scripting, etc. was all done by her.

For her, landscape is a wide canvas because it encloses all the elements of nature and at times artist’s own interpretation, which makes the whole thing something different than just a landscape. In observing her work, the thing that stands out the most is that she does not paint the obvious. Instead her paintings show what she feels and absorbs from the nature. It will not be wrong to say that Fauzia’s sole inspiration originates from nature and through her work; she wants to reveal the deeper meaning behind the existence and beauty of these elements. Most importantly, she wants to praise the supreme Al-Musawir and highlight his hidden messages in the nature’s elements by painting them on her canvas. Those who understand the language of art will easily recognize and feel this experience through what is portrayed on the canvas.

This world’s canvas is so vast that one lifetime is not enough to explore, discover and paint all its beauty and reveal the secrets hidden in small nuances of nature. Through her work, Fauzia has always tried to portray a meaningful message and explore the connection/bond between us, humans, and nature. She hopes that in her work you will find all of the above in the form of realism, surrealism, impressionism and abstraction.

Currently she is working in collaboration with Climate Hub Forum to bring awareness of climate change and the importance of plants in our lives to fight against global warming. She provides paintings based on environment, mangroves and other plants and trees to show the significance on how they protect us.

2. Artist Statement

Art is an opportunity to create beautiful visions with meaningful messages that connect with people and strengthen the emotional relationship of society with nature and each other.

I have been working for almost 35 years, worked on many different series, with various mediums. What I have observed, felt and learnt the most important part of painting is the journey of discovery. The excitement of showing it visually and the challenges of what the painting will turn out to be.

Sometimes it’s during the process of painting I discover things, which I missed out before and try to bring it in limelight for everyone else to see.

3. Artwork Review

To understand Fauzia Khan’s art one has to understand nature and its intricate design everywhere around us. She is deep into understanding the language of nature and at times when she is out and about and sees vast areas full of trees, their roots, herbs and shrubs she sits silent and contemplates but at times she converses with them using their own language and this i where she differentiates herself when it comes to painting the green environment.

I have known Fauzia Khan for the last twenty years and have written several articles on her work. From time to time I have had long discussions with her. Trying to understand her feeling about the natural environment. This gave me a great deal of understanding specifically about the nature-business. In fact, what I wanted to know was her so deep a involvement where she feels she converses with trees in a very sensitive and specific manner. This brought me much closer to her, her understanding of nature and her perceptual interpretations.

With these feelings I accepted to write about her work. I interviewed her immediate family, went through several articles about her, written by eminent art critics and fine art journalists. I managed to see several paintings which were not displayed yet and I also observed her at her work. What surprised me was her manner at the time of painting I felt that for a very short moment she goes into a trance and then back to normality. This phenomenon was difficult for me to understand but I did manage to observe closely the relationship between those moments and Fauzia’s paintings.

Fauzia Khan is a _dedicated artist who paints under an inner compulsion. At times she sits in front of her canvas, looking at it, as if going through the composition and then she picks up the brush and starts to paint.

In many of her paintings, trees take various shapes, roots tum to dancing girls, herbs and shrubs small figures hidden and watching, in fact an untold story being unfolded. It took some eight to nine months to write Fauzia Khan’s biography plus no doubt I had to look after my own work. My travels to the UK to see my son and daughter may have delayed the book a little but I feel it finished in reasonable time. It will be soon in your hands and I hope that you would like what has been written and try to understand nature and its design.

Mohsin Jaffri

August, 2015 Karachi

4. Credentials

Awards Won:

2024 August Global Artist Star Award by Worvid International
2020 Best Woman Artist Award by Rotary Club
2005 June Bisat-e-yaran, Award in painting
2004 Young Outstanding Pakistani Award in Cultural Achievement by Junior Chamber International (JCI)
2004 Sadequain Award
2003 First City Talent Women’s Award
1998 Sadequain Calligraphy Award 1st winner in category
1997 Winner of Fashion Designing Contest

Solo Exhibition List:

2025, upcoming.
2025 Artboxy Online Solo Show
2024, 2^ndMay – Exhibition in ArtOne62 Gallery, Karachi, on “Ayai Thay Nazar Mujhe Woh Phoolon Kai Aas Paas.”
2022, 12^th March – Exhibition in Ocean Art Gallery, Karachi, on “Mystic Aroma of the Soil.
2020, Zervais Art Club International, Online Solo.
2020, 9^th February — Exhibition in Vision Art Gallery, Karachi, on “Obscure Realities”
2018, 7^th February — Exhibition in Clifton Art Gallery, Karachi, on “Tantalizing Mysteries”
2016, 16^thApril — Exhibition in CitiArt Gallery, Karachi, on “Devotion”
2013, 25^th September – Exhibition in El Dorado Art Gallery, Karachi, on “Perceptual Interpretation”
2013, 6^th June – Exhibition in Arts Council of Pakistan, Karachi, organized by National 2013 Forum for Environment & Health (NFEH) on the occasion of World Environment Day
2007-2009, conducted an art program on Vibe TV, “Tere Rung Rung”. Demonstrated live paintings in various mediums in the first half followed by interviewing other artists in the second half of the program.
2006, March — Exhibition in Clifton Art Gallery, on “Optimism Through Colors’’ (series of paintings on flowers and trees)
2003, May — Solo exhibition in Karachi Arts Council, on “Roots & Rocks” (Judged as best Solo Exhibition in history of Arts Council)
2001 Shakir Ali Museum, Lahore — Solo exhibition on “Roots & Landscapes”.
2001 National Art Gallery, Islamabad Solo exhibition on “Roots”.
2000 Majmua Art Gallery — Solo exhibition on “Roots”, sponsored by Ministry of Forest.
1999 Alliance Francaise — Solo exhibition and live demonstration dedicated to the memory of “Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan”
1998 Holiday Inn Crown Plaza, Karachi — Solo exhibition dedicated to the memory of the great mystic singer “Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan”.
1997 Sadequain Gallery Solo exhibition
1996 Alliance Francaise — Solo exhibition on “Glass & Stone”.
1996 Art Collectors Gallery — Solo exhibition on “Glass & Stone”.
1991 Sadequain Gallery — Participated in two group shows
1990 — participated in the 1st Sadequain Award

Group Exhibitions:

Fauzia Khan has participated in over 100 group exhibitions in Pakistan and all over the world. Some of the them are:

International Group Exhibitions in Spain, Casa De, Thompson Art Gallery. Others in Switzerland, France, Germany, Dubai, Zurich, USA and England.
2025 Women Show in Art Citi Gallery
2024 “Waves of Sukkar”, PNCA, Karachi
2024 9^th February Art for Climate Change in Majmua Art Gallery,
2023 Art Festival in Dream Art Gallery,
2023 Four Women Show in Art 62 Gallery
2023 Flood Show in Dream Art Gallery,
2022 Flood Donation Show in Arts Council Karachi
2022 Flood Show in Ocean Art Gallery,
2022 15^th December Water Color International Group Show in Bahawalpur,
2022 1^st February – 4^th March Artbox Project in Urbanside Gallery in Switzerland
2020 February International Watercolor Exhibition, “Pearls of Peace – Season 2”,
2019 22^nd November Flickering Spirits & Hamail Art Gallery showcasing Expression of Art on the theme “Kashmir Through The Eye Of Artists” in Hamail Art Gallery
2019 November Alhamra Arts Council, Second National Exhibition
2019 1^st September First International Painting Group Exhibition on the theme “Books and Libraries” in National Library of Pakistan, Islamabad
2019 15^th August International Group Exhibition, Zurich (Switzerland)
2018 Switzerland Online Group Show
2017 Thailand International Group Show
2015 14^th August Group Exhibition in Pearl Continental Hotel, Karachi
2014 September Calligraphy Group Exhibition in Pearl Continental Hotel, Karachi
2014 31^st May Group Exhibition of Famous Artists from Pakistan in The Designers, Jumairah Lake Towers, Dubai, UAE
2006 25^th October Asian Art Now at Mie Prefectural Museum (Tsu, Japan)