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.

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

​Residencies & Professional Projects

• ​Insight of an Eco Artist Residency Online Eight-week residency focused on environmental consciousness, deep empathy, and the more-than-human world 2026

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

Volunteer and Workshop

Volunteer Art Instructor,Hazara University, Mansehra, Pakistan. Taught Drawing, Painting, and Art History and led workshops on Cubism to foster creativity in remote academic setting, 2010.

Volunteer Art Teacher,Army Public School and College for Special Children Sialkot, Pakistan. Taught Drawing to the children with hearing impairments, encouraging visual expression, creativity and learning through art. 2006-2007

​Selected Exhibitions

• Group Exhibition ,The Nearnes of Things, Blank Canvas Gallery London,Produced by IOAEA, October 2026

• ​Group Exhibition ,Interwoven, Filet Gallery, London, March 2026 ,Collaborative Project Curated by Joana Alarcão; featuring live performance 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.

• ​Solo Exhibition Mystery, Color Gallery, Lahore 2013

​Collaborative Participation

• ​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 & Teaching Experience

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

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

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 Art 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 Requirements for the Degree of MA (Hons) Visual Arts May 2011

Interview

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