Born in Australia in 1950, Naazish Ata-Ullah is the Associate Professor and Head of Printmaking in the Department of Fine Art, National College of Arts in Lahore. She is a graduate of studies in Printmaking at Slade School of Fine Art in London and has extensive printmaking experience. She has exhibited across Pakistan, India, UK and Scandinavia and has advised and prepared papers for International organisations.
The concern with the body has always been central to her work. In the past she has approached the female body in several different ways: metaphorically, representationally, sexually and politically. Draped in a chaddar or hidden within the folds of a burqa - the body has been deliberately concealed to heighten the dilemma of the anonymous and the silenced.
Currently she is looking at the ageing body. The work is still in progress and she can only share some initial concerns. She wants to juxtapose parts of the body with personal items such as spectacles or false teeth. These mundane items perform very specific and essential requirements over the passage of time as one becomes increasingly dependent on them. Hence their importance is enhanced along with the vulnerability and discomfort of the body.
The work is subjective and personal but also has universal relevance. The self-conscious vanity of youth is replaced by a more empowered but older body. The transition is transparent.
