Are there any artists who influenced your work?
There was a learning process for me which began during my Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts. This was in the practical aspects of that degree. When I was studying for my Master’s, I studied art history, along with practice, and we were introduced to the work of Rembrandt. I loved the way Rembrandt used light and shade in his work, and that certainly had an impact on me. I would say that Byzantine art and how flickers of gold were used in the artistic process also influenced me.
Portrait of Nicolaes van Bambeeck
In 2015, I said to myself that one day I would see Rembrandt’s paintings. Then, in January 2026, I was in Belgium and went to the Royal Museum of Fine Arts and I witnessed Rembrandt’s work, “Portrait of Nicolaes van Bambeeck”, right in front of me. It felt like a lived manifestation. A few weeks ago, I was in Istanbul, Turkey, on my curatorial research trip, and I saw Byzantine art, and again I saw how they used that gold in their mosaics, which I talked about earlier.
I have also been influenced by abstract art, and I work in the abstract, but I have elements of Rembrandt’s influence in my work. That is especially the use of light, which emerges naturally during my abstract painting. The gold elements of Byzantine art also emerge in my own work in the form of the use of gold leaf.
How did you develop your skills?
In both my degrees, the Bachelor’s and the Master’s, I had to work in many areas: drawings, landscapes, calligraphy and a bit of Mughal miniature. We had to study every genre because Fine Arts is the parent of all the art forms, and my major was painting.
In terms of other developments in my work, n 2021, I was in Karachi, Pakistan, and I was painting with a dry brush onto a canvas, and it offered me a different type of stroke, a beautiful stroke, in terms of applying my paint. I was working in black and white, and I produced a painting using this method.
Image Courtesy of Shahrukh Asad
I sent a friend of mine what I had produced, and he thought it was very impressive. I first met him during his time at an art gallery in Lahore, where we had a professional conversation and gradually got to know each other. Over time, we developed a strong professional relationship. He then asked me to produce a commissioned piece for him. I completed the commission.
This experience strengthened our professional relationship and demonstrated how meaningful connections made through art spaces can lead to valuable creative opportunities. In the end I did at least 100 commissions for him, and then I just moved into working on abstract paintings.
From that profile and practice, later on, my work went into collections like IDA Global, which is an international architecture and interior firm. Then, last year, 2025, the Deputy Lord Mayor of Belfast bought my work. It has been quite a journey.
