I am a self-taught artist who loves art and creativity. My work is known for abstract and calligraphic paintings. Even in my childhood and in school days, I was more interested in arts as compared to my studies.
Fashion Collection: Describe yourself, your work background, and your personal life?
Aliya Faizi: I am a self-taught artist who loves art and creativity. My work is known for abstract and calligraphic paintings. Even in my childhood and in school days, I was more interested in arts as compared to my studies. During education, I got married and have 3 children, 2 sons and 1 daughter MashAllah. I started to take arts education after my second child was born and he was 1.5 years at that time. I took fine arts education from Mashkoor Arts School in a total span of 4.5 years and completed it in the year 2000. This was the same year when my daughter was born. Even during my art education, I started to take part in several groups and solo shows. By the year 2021, I have done 13 solos and took part in around 40 group shows. This includes different cities of Pakistan and also art shows in Dubai and the USA. My dream was to become an artist. I have done work in almost all mediums including Pencil sketch, charcoal pastels, Oil, and Acrylic. I do free-hand calligraphy as well. I completed the print-making course from Arts Council. Took classes of ceramics from the famous artist Mr. Tariq Javed and did one complete show on ceramics alone. I have also worked with several organizations including a collaboration with Indus Hospital and Dr. Bari. The paintings that were sold, half of the proceedings used to go to Hospital for the treatment of poor patients. I have also worked with Dow, SIUT, LRBT, and Civil Hospital. I always try to donate some of my work and contribute something towards social causes as well. Whenever I get such an opportunity to contribute, I always avail that. I have always loved different forms of Art either it’s painting, music, film, drama, or writing. On the death anniversary of famous artist Gulgee, one of my articles was printed in the Jang newspaper. I also had the honor of hosting a documentary on Gulgee that was also televised after his death. In his life, I recorded one of his interviews in his personal museum and studio. Other than this, I did hosting for 2 years in PTV and interviewed several renowned artists of Pakistan that including Mashkoor Raza, Ahmed Khan, Gulgee, and many others. In Ramadan, during Sehri and Iftar time I read Ahadith. I have also worked in a drama serial in PTV that was based on Pakistan and the Indian border relationship. The name of the Drama was “Baarh”. My role was that of a psychiatrist in this drama. Wherever and whenever I got the chance, I always tested my talent although I had no such family background in the field of Arts.
Fashion Collection: What inspires you?
Aliya Faizi: As far as inspiration is concerned, I believe 2020 was a year that has affected the whole world especially artists who are already sensitive to their surroundings and have a lot of angles in their thinking. Maybe this is the reason why I have become much closer to nature than ever before.
My inspiration has always been closer to nature. The most beautiful creation of God is humans. For a long time, I have been painting female figures. My concept is the relationship of humans with clay. The smell of clay inspires me a lot. There is always is a deep relation between human beings with clay because in the end all humans will be buried down in the earth. My inspiration for clay is reflected in my paintings in the form of potteries and human figures. This is why my work is semi-abstract figurative with pots.
Fashion Collection: What does it take to become a successful artist?
Aliya Faizi: I believe that in order to become successful in any work it’s important to have a deep interest in it. If you are not sincere with your work and doing shallow work then it’s very hard to become successful. Many people take Art as a time-pass hobby however in order to become a successful artist it requires continuous and deep practice. It requires new experiments and consistency. Without these efforts, success is not possible in this field.
Fashion Collection: Before painting, what are the aspects you keep in your mind?
Aliya Faizi: In paintings, artists express the inner feelings. My paintings depend on my mood. I paint with an open mind and bright colors attract me. This art is God’s gift for me and I love to do new experiments in my paintings. I work mostly in cubism, however, if I am doing work on a particular series then keeping the subject in mind, I keep the balance in the composition of the objects that I paint. I try to create a classic piece of art while working in the arena of my canvas.
Fashion Collection: Any painting which is your personal favorite and why?
Aliya Faizi: Every creation that is done from the heart is precious. Selecting any one piece of art that is my favorite is quite difficult.
Fashion Collection: Any interesting incident you want to share with these your readers?
Aliya Faizi: Once in my student life, I participated in a Quaid-e-Azam portrait competition. I took part in it but unfortunately couldn’t attend the prize distribution ceremony. I was not expecting but my teachers informed me the next day that my name was announced there and I was one of the winners of this competition out of several artists who took part in this competition.
Fashion Collection: What are the dos and don’ts while curating?
Aliya Faizi: Curating an art exhibition is a huge responsibility. While curating, one should carefully select the artist’s work and accessibility of the gallery. The exhibition place should not be very congested, display of the paintings should be at the eye level and lighting should be proper and as per the requirement of the painting. Description of each painting is important for people to relate to the artwork. Marketing should be given due importance so that people are well informed about the upcoming show.
Fashion Collection: Which is your best seller painting?
Aliya Faizi: It’s hard to call anyone painting as a best seller however I once collaborated with Indus Hospital and donated my paintings for a good cause. I was happy to receive the response on my calligraphy paintings which were sold for this noble cause.
Fashion Collection: Any message to the young aspiring artists?
Aliya Faizi: I have one message that our young artists should never lose hope and must always give their best. The rest should be left on God. Success is in His hands.
Fashion Collection: How can we empower the artists?
Aliya Faizi: Firstly, we should understand the work of the artists and the concepts behind each of their paintings. In order to empower the artists, it is important that we encourage and share their work and most importantly by their artwork according to its real value. In our country, unfortunately, we have a very low literacy rate due to which the awareness is very low and art is not given its due importance. In order to empower the new artists, it is important to raise awareness about art and culture. Every artist tries his best to sell the art that he/she creates. Now e days the responsibility of artists is even more as first they have to go through the process of creating a masterpiece and then have to go through a long and tedious process of marketing and selling the same artwork themselves. With the introduction of digital marketing, there is a lot of empowerment that has been gained by the artists however the rate of competition is also increased at the same time.
