Amna Rahman

11/2/2022

Biography

Amna Rahman (b.1993) is a painter based in Karachi, Pakistan. She completed her BFA, specialising in painting, with a Distinction, from the National College of Arts, Lahore, in 2017. Her work was published in a book shown at the Venice Biennale, ‘Imago Mundi’ curated by Ambereen Karamat and Amanullah Mojadidi, in 2017. Her works were featured in a BBC documentary called ‘Dangerous Borders’, in 2017. She participated in a performance called ’Noah’s Ark’ at the Karachi Biennale, in 2019. Her work was displayed in an exhibition hosted by Antidote Dubai, in 2020. She engages in community outreach projects to help talented young artists at the Arts Council, Karachi.

Artist Statement

My main focus is on social constructs and challenges to gender stereotypes. I explore female sexuality, desire, patterns and behaviours. I paint the female body in safe spaces, as I question the existence of the body - how the body navigates, how it is perceived & how it makes its place in this patriarchal world. Society has tried to separate the female body by defining it by gender, class, heteronormative structures, but the body is beyond all that. Hence, the paintings are a narration of my lived experiences of multiple realities, depicting the traits of female beings, their complexities and how they perish in the searing heat of a myriad of emotions. Recurring themes in my work draw on personal memories charged with emotions, duality, subconscious machinations of the human psyche as well as self-reflection.