1. Bibliographic Note

Saleem Raza is a distinguished artist and educator hailing from Quetta, Balochistan. He completed his intermediate education in Quetta before earning his Bachelor’s degree from the National College of Arts (NCA) in Lahore, where he specialized in sculpture with a minor in painting. His artistic journey began in 1998 when he joined Idara-e-Saqafat Quetta, marking the start of his practice in drawing and fine arts. To refine his creative skills across various disciplines, he moved to Lahore to pursue formal training at NCA. Currently, Saleem Raza is a faculty member at the School of Visual and Performing Arts (SOVAPA) in Karachi, where he teaches fine arts. Additionally, he serves as a visiting faculty member at Iqra University, contributing to the academic development of aspiring artists.

2. Artist Statement:

My work is about my feelings to our love one’s with whom we are very attached. I express my feeling of loss, longing and nostalgia through my art. It can create a poignant mood and invite the viewer to reflect on the relationship and emotions that are missing. The empty space left emphasis the significance and impact on our lives. Painting can serve a form of therapy, helping your process and emotions. It is also a way of expressing and preserve their memory through colors, forms and symbols.

My work reflects the society and the human condition—where injustice seems to pervade every aspect of life. We often face unfairness not only from the world around us but also within ourselves—regarding our careers, responsibilities, and relationships. When someone or something departs from our lives, the pain is profound, and the void they leave is difficult to fill.

Having personally experienced such losses—losing relatives, friends, and brotherhood—I understand the deep wounds that these tragedies leave behind. These incidents create a vast, unfillable gap that continues to influence my perspective and creative expression.

Driven by these experiences, I am compelled to channel my emotions and ideas into various forms of art—painting, sculpture, and other mediums. As an artist, I believe it is my responsibility to confront these realities, to express them honestly, and to evoke reflection and understanding in others. Through my work, I aim to explore the depths of human suffering, resilience, and the enduring quest for meaning amidst injustice.

3. Review About my Artwork:

By Shamama Hasany

Medium: Acrylic on canvas

Size: 2 x 2 ft.

Saleem Raza’s painting seems to glow from within. Washes of warm tones—oranges, yellows, browns and reds—flow into each other yet are skillfully controlled, giving the faces that comprise the central composition, volume and presence. These faces, rendered in bold, black line, appear to belong to young and middle-aged men, gazing directly at the viewer. Their expressions are solemn—neither joyful, nor angry—just quietly present.

At the center is a faceless head with red paint dripping down it, reminiscent of blood. It evokes the aftermath of violence: splatters on a butcher’s wall, a scene in a film where someone has been killed, or blood washed off a face that has been beaten, wiping away not just the features but also identity. The facelessness becomes symbolic— it speaks of erasure, of being forgotten in death.

The surrounding faces are connected by a continuous, unbroken line, as if drawn from a single continuous thread. Yet, despite their unity, they show no reaction to the missing figure. As if absence is familiar and not alarming—almost expected.

The composition evokes the feeling of fire—either consuming or illuminating the figures. The bold, black line defines the faces clearly as they emerge from the abstract background, suggesting both individuality and shared experience. There is a striking tension created by the contrast between the vibrant warmth of color and the cool detachment of their expressions.

The faceless figure in the center becomes a question: Who was he? A father? A son? A neighbor? A teacher? A friend? Did he wear glasses? Did he smile brightly? Had he lost anyone before too or was he the first in his family to be lost to violence? The painting raises unanswerable questions and a longing to remember an unidentified stranger.

The sense of loss is deeply personal to the artist who belongs to the Shia Hazara community in Baluchistan who have suffered decades of sectarian violence, target killings and bombings. He has lost loved ones to this violence yet his work does not rely on traditional realism to communicate its very real and heavy subject matter. The painting remains visually light. Through fluid color and expressive form, Raza utilizes abstraction and gesture to speak of grief and memory.

4. Credentials

• Group show at Arts council Karachi, 2024.
• Group show at Space gallery Karachi , in 2015.
• Group show at Grandeur Art Gallery Karachi, in March 2013.
• Sindh Artist exhibition at Pakistan Arts council Karachi, in October, 2012.
• Group show of Painting and Drawings in Poppy Seed Art gallery Karachi in April 2010.
• Group show of Painting and Sculpture at Russian Culture Centre Karachi in Nov 2008.
• Group show of Sculpture at Russian Culture Centre Karachi in May 2008.

COMMISSIONED WORKS:

• Relief Project at M. Fahad’s house at Karachi, 2024
• Relief Project at Mr. shoaib house at Lahore, 2023.
• Relief work at Rehan Elahi’s home at Karachi, 2023.
• Relief work for sonober yasir saloon at Karachi , 2023
• Relief work for Engro company at Karachi, 2019
• Interior design of Bella Donna beauty parlour Karachi, 2011.
• Relief Sculpture for the Bella Donna parlour Karachi, 2011.
• Relief  sculpture for Sadequain Institute of Arts Karachi,  2010.

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