A Pakistani/American artist, Hiba Schahbaz depicts women’s bodies while referencing self-portraiture, working primarily with paper, black tea, and water-based pigments.
Born and raised in Karachi, Pakistan, Schahbaz currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. She graduated from the National College of Arts, Lahore with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Miniature Painting | Minors in Printmaking, Sculpture, Product Design and Pratt Institute, New York with a Master of Fine Arts in Painting | Museum Studies. Since migrating to the United States, her practice has expanded from miniature painting to human-scale works on paper. She exhibited in a range of venues, including Danese Corey, NY, Mindy Solomon Gallery, Miami, FL, New Image Art Gallery, LA, Barney Savage Gallery, NY, Northern Illinois University Art Museum, Hygienic Gallery, New London, Connecticut and Blanc Gallery, Philippines.
Schahbaz is known for contemporary paintings that invoke classical styles. Her work is a bold assertion of the right to claim and occupy space, both figuratively and literally, seeking to create a space for herself and other women to tell their stories and reclaim their histories. Her female figures are depicted communing with nature and with other women, and tending to themselves.
Featured image: Hiba Schahbaz - Dancing, 2020 (detail). Watercolor, gouache, tea and gold leaf on handmade paper. 12 1/4 × 9 3/4 in. 31.1 × 24.8 cm. Photo courtesy Miles McEnery Gallery