Umaima Khan is a Karachi-based visual artist, graduated from Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture. Primarily working with acrylics to comment on the way women are looked at, exploring different mediums to critically discuss the female form and gaze. Currently working as an art mentor at AIFD and IVS (CEP Department).

The female body has been represented in art many times, not as a manifestation of a real life subject, but rather as a portrayal of ideals of beauty. My work is based on the generic idea of the feminine form and the repression of the sexual and individual identity of women. Belonging to a family that are quite active and involved in art, I have seen multiple times the use of female figures in generic ways. There was always one body type, color and stylization.

The subject discusses the idea of creating female forms in a similar manner that it diminishes the individual identity of women and creates unrealistic beauty standards.

The nude forms in my work are a translation of female forms in their highly personal state which emphasizes their individuality and self-discovery. The comfort in the exaggerated human postures and bends of these forms conveys the idea of being able to accept one’s own-self and rejecting the desire to be seen as a conventional figure. The paintings challenge the notions of idealized beauty and create more self-reflective forms.

I am using candies and desserts as an inspiration to comment on the idea of looking at female bodies as an object.