The scholarship behind the brushstroke
Before painting full time, I taught fine arts at the University of the Punjab in Lahore, retiring as Associate Professor and serving as Head of Research. My PhD is in art history.
My research looks at how the arts and crafts of the subcontinent carry meaning across generations and borders. I still write, present at conferences and give talks, and that study shapes what I choose to paint and how I see it.
Research areas
- Traditional arts and crafts of the subcontinent
- Motifs in architectural embellishment
- How art traditions travel across regional, religious and political borders
- Petroglyphs along the Karakoram Highway
- Pinjra work in Punjab architecture, the lattice this site is framed in
Credentials
- PhD in Art HistoryUniversity of the Punjab, Lahore
- MA in Art HistoryUniversity of the Punjab, Lahore
- Associate Professor of Fine Arts (retired)University of the Punjab, Lahore
- Head of ResearchUniversity of the Punjab, Lahore
- About 28 years of teaching and research
Selected publications
- Compositional Aesthetics of Sacred Text: the contribution of Pakistani artists to painterly calligraphyUniversity of the Punjab, LahoreRead the paper
- The Ideological Basis of Design Motifs in the Architecture of the Subcontinent: The Converging Stories of Bells and TasselsUniversity of the Punjab, LahoreRead the paper
- The Pioneers of Romanticism and Realism in the Landscape Paintings of PunjabUniversity of the Punjab, Lahore
- The Aesthetics of Retaliation and its Contribution to SocietyUniversity of the Punjab, Lahore