secrets i’ve kept from myself

The main idea idea of my work is confidence. I want to show confident women and promote the idea of living life loud and unapologetically. Creating works and having them around me reminds me of this.

I spent the first half of my life living in Pakistan and the lifestyle I was made to conform to made me very aware of my body and how little power I had in terms of doing what I wanted. There was an expectation of how to act and dress and make myself smaller and that never felt right with me. I always tried to challenge these societal norms as much as I could, but I found by creating powerful works of art I found a way to push those boundaries.

When I paint I have the fully nude realistic figures standing in their power. By having this energy, women firstly will see a body that they can connect to and then see it taking up space and commanding attention rather than hiding away. I would like them to be able to be inspired and start the conversation of, “if she can do it so can I.”

These paintings are from the female gaze and painted in a way that is not meant to be looked at; the figure is looking upon you. So it's as if the viewer can see the figure is fully comfortable and almost take a breath of relief when they don't have to live up to it.