Biography

I am,Saadia Hussain, a visual artist and parent. I am based in Lahore and Mansehra in Pakistan.My work moves between drawing, painting, digital media, performance, textile, and writing. My art practice has been shaped by my experience of hearing loss and speech. I am interested in the spaces between sound and silence, and in how absence can become a form of presence. I often explore how sound fades into silence, and how silence can become a form of meaning. I also work with writing and storytelling. My texts often shift between clarity and fragmentation. Some parts are readable, while others become unclear or unreadable. This comes from my interest in gaps in language, where meaning is not fully fixed and can be felt rather than fully understood. I studied at the National College of Arts (NCA), Lahore, where I completed my BFA in 1998 and my MA (Hons) in Visual Art in 2010. I have taught at different institutions and also worked as visiting faculty at NCA. Teaching and sharing ideas with students has been an important part of my practice. In 2021, I attended an intensive drawing program at the Royal Drawing School, London, which helped me focus more closely on observation, imagination, and drawing. My work has been shown in Pakistan and internationally since 2000. Selected solo exhibitions include "The Sound of Silence" (Islamabad, 2003), "Mystery" (Lahore, 2013), and "The Land of Peacocks" (Johns Hopkins University, USA, 2017). Recent projects include "Interwoven" at Filet Gallery, London (2026), group residencies with "Insight of an Eco Artist" (2026), and the "Soundings and Surroundings" residency at the Museum of Loss and Renewal, Orkney, Scotland (2025). I participated in the Mantiq of the Mantis workshop "Know Thyself" in 2023. My practice focuses on silence not as emptiness, but as something active and present. I am especially interested in how gaps in communication and hearing can open new ways of seeing and understanding. I use stitching, repetition, and mark-making as a way to slow down time and allow memory, feeling, and fragments of experience to surface. Across drawing, textile, painting, digital work, performance, and writing, I explore how thoughts, memories, stories, and even unreadable marks can take shape in material form.

CV

Saadia Hussain

Visual Artist

Email: saadiahussain2002@gmail.com

Date of Birth: 30.06.1972

Studio Practice: Established March 1998

Education

• Intensive Course (Online), Royal Drawing School, London, 2021

• MA (Hons) Visual Art, National College of Arts (NCA), Lahore, 2009–2010

• Bachelor of Fine Arts, National College of Arts (NCA), Lahore, 1994–1997 (Major: Painting; Minors: Printmaking, Photography, and Textile)

Residencies

• Insight of an Eco Artist Residency Online, an eight-week residency focusing on environmental consciousness, 2026

• Sounding and Surrounding | Group Residency, The Museum of Loss and Renewal, Orkney, Scotland | 2025

Selected Exhibitions

• Group Exhibition, Interwoven, Filet Gallery, London, March 2026, Collaborative Project, Curated by Joana Alarcao, and eco-collaboration, London | 2026

• Group Show, Siyah, Safed o Siyahi, curated by Munawer Ali Syed, Sanat Art Gallery, Karachi, 2022

• Two-Person Show, With Mohsin Shafi, Nomad Gallery, Islamabad, 2018

• Solo Exhibition, The Land of Peacocks, Syra Art and SAIS, Johns Hopkins University, Washington D.C., 2017, Collaborative project by Muse.

Collaborative Participation

.Participated in Mantiq of the Mantis workshop “Know Thyself,” 2023

• Installation Participant, Hope is the Thing with Feathers, by Tazeen Qayyum, 2021

• Installation Participant, Our Bodies Our Garden, by Tazeen Qayyum, Textile Museum of Canada (as part of 'The Veiled' exhibition), 2011

Performance and Theater

• Television, Dance and Mime in the drama Jo Bichar Gaye, Geo Har Pal (Dir. Haissam Hussain), 2021

• Mime, National College of Arts, Lahore, 1994–1998 (Awarded Best Performance)

Academic and Teaching Experience

• Visiting Faculty (Drawing), Hazara University, KPK | 2021

• Visiting Faculty (MA Visual Arts), National College of Arts, Lahore, 2013–2018

• Volunteer Art Teacher, Army Public School and College for Special Children, Sialkot, 2006–2007

Awards and Honors

• Merit Award, 27th Annual Exhibition, Al-Hamra Art Council, Lahore, 2013

• First Division, MA Hons Visual Arts, 2010

• Distinction, Bachelor of Fine Arts, 1998

Publication

THE EFFECT OF ISLAMIZATION OF GENERAL ZIA-UL-HAQ ON THE ART AND CULTURE SCENE IN PAKISTAN. 1977-1988. Extended Essay Submitted to The Department of Fine Arts National College of Arts, Lahore. In Partial Fulfillment of The Requirement for the Degree of MA (Hons.) Visual Art, May 2011.

Interview

https://www.insightsofayoungecologicalartist.com/residencies-profiles/saadia-hussain