Homebound

Misha Sheikh (b. 1999) is an emerging artist based in Lahore, Pakistan. She obtained her bachelor’s in fine arts (Honors) from the National College of Arts, Lahore in 2023 and specializes in Miniature painting. She uses an interdisciplinary approach in her image-making; the influences in her work vary from traditional Mughal miniature visual vocabulary to graphic compositions. The repeating traditional, stylized, painting technique in her work is known as ‘Gadd Rang’, roughly translating to colorful painting. Sheikh has exhibited her work in the National College of Arts, Alhamra Art Center, O Art Space, NumaishGah and Dominion Gallery, Lahore and Artcade and Artescape Gallery, Islamabad, Pakistan.

In attempts to explore her obstructed relationship with nature and a growing sense of curiosity about its peripheral existence, Misha uses opaque watercolors as a medium to familiarize herself with it now. Her investigation and current concern circles around the ethnographic documentation of the elements of nature that form daily urban interactions, especially in busy cities. The stark contrast between the presence of color and form of the flora fauna with the whiteness of the paper, she delves into the disconnect with the mundane and what familiarity means to her. Misha’s treatment of this imagery with paint is influenced by Company painting, as well as encyclopedias and stickers.