Poonam Javaid is a figurative artist and has explored a multitude of themes in her work. She started with painting figures and silhouettes inspired by the freedom of expression of women through dance, and moved on to depicting social vices including child labour and abuse. Her work was recently displayed at Boston’s Conference Hall and Multicultural Centre.

She is currently painting the beauty of nature in a series titled My Animal Kingdom, and has taken up the cause of animal welfare in Islamabad which the proceeds of the series will fund. Dawn caught up with her and talked about her work.

Q: What drew you to art?

A: I can’t say. I’ve been making art for as long as I can remember. I’ve been inspired by different themes through eras. I feel moved by changing circumstances around me and it reaches the point where I can no longer put my thoughts into words, but I can paint.

I started painting a series on dance, which is a strong expression of movement and I’m really passionate about dance so it was much easier for me to express my appreciation and love for dance through my art than through words. I try to capture the aura of my subject in my art.

Q: Why the sudden transition from painting humans to painting animals?

A: While humans have dominated my canvases for a much longer of time, I paint all the things that I care about and I have recently started to feel as strongly about animals, especially animal confined to cages in the zoo.

There is very little care or concern for their living conditions and their state led me to painting the series ‘My Animal Kingdom’, which is a combination of imprints and silhouettes of animals such as zebras, horses, lions and cranes.

Through my work, I aim to draw attention towards animal rights and attempt to improve the conditions those beings endure. It’s only when there is a tragedy concerning the animals in zoos that people stop to think about them, like the horrible death of an elephant.

Q: What do you plan to do after ‘My Animal Kingdom’?

A: I’m always found international artist’s retreats interesting and have toyed with the idea of putting together a similar one in Pakistan, preferably somewhere up north. The Ministry of Environment arranged one a while ago but only men went. The idea is to have likeminded, creative people in one space, whether it’s painters, writers, poets or musicians.

Last year, my family and I started hosting literary sittings at our residence that feature recitations of poetry and prose and singing. I want to do something similar for fine artists to share their creativity in their own distinct ways.

For artists and art residencies there are space constraints, and I would have to plan something away from my home and for a longer period.

Published in Dawn, March 23rd, 2017