Sincerely Yours: A Contemporary Exploration Across Cultures – Part 1 – Written by Shahrukh Asad

Sincerely Yours: A Contemporary Exploration Across Cultures

Belfast’s contemporary art scene continues to grow through exhibitions that bring together different histories, experiences, and artistic approaches. The city has become a space where artists from different backgrounds create new conversations through their work, allowing ideas, cultures, and perspectives to meet.

Entering Sincerely Yours feels like stepping into a space where different artistic voices exist together at 2 Royal Avenue Presented by Curated Frame Art Gallery and curated by Muhammad Zeeshan, the exhibition creates a strong visual experience through a collection of faces, figures, forms, and emotions. Bringing together artists from Pakistan and Northern Ireland, the exhibition reflects how contemporary art can move beyond geographical boundaries and create connections through shared human experiences.

The exhibition presents a range of figurative practices exploring identity, memory, emotion, and the human presence. Among the works, the practices of Nazar Ul Islam, Catherine Minford, and Jawad Ahmed Jan create a compelling visual conversation through their different approaches to portraiture, representation, and form. The exhibition also includes works by Shahzad Baloch and Ramsha Rubbani, adding further diversity to the overall experience.

Nazar Ul Islam’s work immediately draws attention through the sensitivity of his watercolour practice and his distinctive approach to portraiture. Working mainly with faces and shoulder-length figures, he creates images where expression becomes more important than physical detail. His carefully developed colour palette, dominated by deep blue tones including Persian blue, creates a recognisable visual identity.

In Beyond the Soul, a watercolour on paper, Nazar creates a portrait that feels quiet yet powerful. The face appears against a clean white background, while the hair is not painted but suggested through delicately drawn lines. This absence of unnecessary detail directs attention towards the expression and, most importantly, the eyes. The hazel and brown tones within the eyes create a striking contrast against the surrounding blue, making the gaze the emotional centre of the work. The title suggests an exploration of something beyond physical appearance, focusing instead on inner presence and identity.

Both of Us explores a different aspect of human connection. The work presents two figures positioned together, yet their bodies and gaze suggest a subtle separation rather than direct interaction. This creates a feeling of closeness and distance existing simultaneously. The painting does not provide a fixed story but allows viewers to reflect on relationships, emotions, and personal interpretations. Nazar’s restrained use of colour strengthens this quiet sense of reflection.

In Twilight, Nazar continues to explore the emotional possibilities of portraiture through his controlled use of watercolour. The limited palette creates a sense of stillness and mood, showing how simplicity can carry emotional depth. In Don’t Look at Me, he explores another psychological space, in which the title itself creates a sense of distance between the viewer and the subject. Through subtle expression and careful colour control, Nazar creates portraits that feel private, introspective, and deeply human.

In contrast, Catherine Minford’s contribution to the exhibition extends beyond painting into sculpture, revealing a practice deeply engaged with portraiture, identity, and human experience. While Nazar Ul Islam’s work creates emotional depth through restraint and a carefully controlled watercolour palette, Minford’s practice communicates through the physical presence of paint, expressive marks, and the energy of the artist’s hand.

Her self-portrait, Exhaustion, stands out through its emotional honesty and expressive handling of oil paint. The visible brushstrokes become part of the work’s meaning, creating a portrait that communicates not only appearance but also a state of feeling. Rather than presenting an idealised image, Minford allows the surface of the painting to reveal movement, vulnerability, and the process of creation itself.

Her works Ordnance Survey, Mid Gurn, and Stormont on Fire demonstrate her ability to explore character and emotion through bold mark making and a confident colour palette. Her paintings connect to traditional portraiture while maintaining a contemporary energy through the physical quality of the painted surface. The brushwork becomes a language of its own, showing both the subject and the artist’s presence.

Alongside her paintings, Minford’s sculptural work Soap Box introduces another dimension to her practice. The sculpture reflects her continued interest in the human figure and the relationship between form and identity. Moving between two- and three-dimensional work, she maintains a consistent focus on expression, individuality, and emotional presence.

Placed alongside Nazar Ul Islam’s restrained and contemplative portraits, Minford’s work creates an engaging contrast. Where Nazar communicates through simplicity, silence, and carefully controlled colour, Minford speaks through texture, gesture, and the physical quality of material.