Naheed Fakhar

Naheed Fakhar has worked through the medium of miniature painting for over three decades. I graduated from national college of arts Lahore in 1984. As miniaturist I started learning various techniques of the art including paper(wasli) making, brush making, colour making ,mixing marbling and illumination. I practiced miniature both in traditional and modern contemporary approaches. The inspiration for this series of paintings in felt-tip comes from the character of the Phoenix -like mythical bird, Simurgh as exemplified in the story of Zal and Rudabeh from Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh. It was the benevolence in the Simurgh for Zal that became the drive force for the creative process. It is fascinating how a bird takes care of a child abandoned by his own father because of his repellent aspect: it is reflective of the paradox in human affairs. This series of paintings reflects the eternal binary between good and evil and the eternal stability of change. The oscillation between hope and despair intrigues me.