What is your specialty, what makes your work unique? Or place your artist's statement.

Why hide the disturbing part of humanity? The beauty and purity of human turmoil is what makes us human. The thing that makes my work unique is that I expose uncomfortable subjects that might be considered taboo by some people through my drawings. Subjects such as honor killings, sexuality issues and the struggle with cultural identity that a lot of people besides myself face on a daily basis.

My Dutch and Pakistani upbringing have had a major influence on the way I approach and experience sexuality; a taboo subject not open for discussion. Opening up and breaking down taboos around sexuality and representing important sexual and gender related issues is what I want to achieve as an artist.

Honor killings, gender roles, various religious views, sexual identity, sexual oppression and sexual freedom in conservative and non-conservative societies and my own bi-cultural background are recurring themes in my work.

My charcoal drawings reveal the reality of the tormented human. The drawings have a controversial atmosphere; aggressively dark and disturbing in its charcoal strokes, but at the same time tender and sensual in its facial expression and body.

Emotional in the depiction of sexuality. Activistic, because I shed light on honor killing crimes that still occur worldwide to this day and make sexuality a topic that is seriously open for debate.

What are your ambitions? What do you want to be in five years?

In five years I see myself working with an art gallery/art galleries and museums specialised in art about religion and sexuality with a main focus on contemporary drawing.

Besides my own artistic practice I´ll be organising group exhibitions and giving workshops to teenagers and adults in drawing portraits. Furthermore, I´ll be teaching in a ISK (Internationale Schakelklas Onderwijs) school which is a special education school that prepares refugees for a new life in their new country.

What is the most important thing you have learned during your studies?

The first most important thing that I have learned during my Bachelor´s Fine Arts and Design in Education is how to give presentations to present myself in front of various groups of people with different educational and cultural backgrounds ranging from different age groups (children to adults).

The presentation skills that I have obtained have been very helpful during my internships at different schools.

The second important thing that I have learned during my studies is how to analyse art subjectively as well as analyzing art from different perspectives of others. Being able to analyse art subjectively and from different perspectives gave me new viewpoints and understanding on various types of art.

Furthermore, learning about the art historical contexts of different artworks and learning about others artists from history as well as contemporary artists has not only made me understand different types of art better, but has also enriched my own art in both its formal aspects as well as the content.

List of publications / exhibitions / prices / concerts / shows etc.

Exhibitions

2021 EXPOSURE, graduation EXPO, HKU, Rotsoord 3, Pastoe fabriek

2021 Glassroom EXPO, Stayokay Hotel, Neude, Utrecht Center, Neude 5, 3512 AD Utrecht

2020 EXPO surFACE, HKU Fine Arts and Design in Education, Rotsoord 3, Pastoe fabriek

2020 Kunst Route Heino

Galerie Lennie
https://galerielennie.nl/
De Kleine Kunstkamer
https://www.dekleinekunstkamer.nl/
Musework Live, 2021, De Kritische Maker, (short film)
https://www.musework.nl/nl/page/11282/korte-films