Portrait of Ahmad Zaka Qureshi 1997
Gouache, gold leaf on wasli paper
7 x 8.9cm
Collection: The artist

Presentation 1998
Gouache, gold leaf on wasli paper
25.4 x 20.3cm
Collection: The artist

My younger brother 1995
Gouache on wasli paper
16.5 x 10.2cm
Collection: The artist

Beware the buyers II 1999
Gouache, gold leaf, photo-transfer on tea-stained wasli paper
34.3 x 29.2cm
Collection: The artist

Hajra loves rain 1999
Gouache on wasli paper
17.8 x 12.7cm
Collection: The artist

Monologue 1999
Gouache on wasli paper
15.3 x 25.4cm
Collection: The artist

The scholar 1999
Gouache, gold leaf on wasli paper
27.9 x 21.6cm
Collection: The artist

Nawab bahadur 1998
Gouache, photo-transfer, gold leaf on wasli paper
26.7 x 21.6cm
Collection: The artist

Mohammad Imran Qureshi is a leading artist and teacher of traditional miniature painting at the National College of Art in Lahore. Qureshi’s miniatures draw attention to the rich cultural past of miniature painting on the subcontinent. His works comment on life in Pakistan through contemporary interpretations of this tradition. Painting on layered wasli paper, often with handmade single-hair brushes, the artist breaks free from conventional subject matter to critique life around him. While revisiting the history of miniature painting, Qureshi faced the key question of whether to reproduce Mughal-era painting or to look for new possibilities within the centuries old tradition. The artist says: ‘I always felt the need to combine the traditional technique with contemporary subject matter. I started making work with a play on the tradition one had inherited, combining elements and contemporising motifs by giving them a strong socio-political context.’

Artist's statement:

The technique of Miniature painting has an ancient history. Although it originated in China, it was adopted by both eastern and western cultures. In fact most of the history of the great Mughuls of the subcontinent, is recorded in these miniatures in a formal discipline. This technique of Miniature painting is the only (water-based) medium that the traditional artist of the Mughul period used for their work.

Looking back at the history of development in miniature. it was strange for me that no experimental endeavours were undertaken. The concentration was either on the reproduction of Mughul era miniature or finding possibilities within the Mughul traditions. I worked and learned on these lines but I always felt the need to combine the traditional technique with contemporary subject matters. As the artists working in the same tradition as me have basically produced highly ornate and decorative work, my work was regarded as an unusual form of expression within this tradition.

I started making work with a play on the tradition one had inherited, combining elements and contemporizing motifs by giving them a strong socio-political context.

My initial work shows the direct influence of puppetry in my life and at times I rendered images in a dream like phase, with puppets portraying political characters that I mimic. This development of 'Image of Puppet' is evident in my recent work to say what always socially intrigued me.