Unlike a number of painters and sculptors moving out to Europe, Canada or the US to settle down, Ejaz Malik — who also has French citizenship — insists it was an obligation for him to return to Pakistan as all his artistic inspirations come from the country he was born in.

He came to France at a young age in 1984 as a student of the Paris Interior Design Institute. His ascensions were rapid, first with a diploma there in 1986, then two years later another one from the College of Contemporary Furniture Design. By 1994 he would, in addition, earn a degree from the Belleville Academy of Architecture.

Life moved at a hectic pace at that stage, he reminisces: “I had come to Paris to study designing and architecture but had no idea I’d be spending not only weekends but also my entire summer and winter vacations visiting museums. I’d move from one hall to another of these legendary places, carrying my sketch book and replicating on its pages chef d’oeuvres in the Louvre, Modern Art, Pompidou, Grand Palais, Petit Palais as well as Zadkine and Orsay museums.”

Painter and sculptor Ejaz Malik brings his training as an architect and interior design to his art. But also much, much more ...

Another turning point in Malik’s artistic life would be reading the letters of Vincent Van Gogh to his brother Theo. He says that while going through these letters he discovered himself profoundly close to the feelings of Van Gogh.

“Here was a man who not only painted sunflower fields, trees and birds but could also transfer his visions of winds and stars in dark skies onto his canvases,” says Malik. “He suffered throughout his brief life and shared his thoughts with his brother which left a deep impact on me. My other influences would be Cezanne, Picasso, Braque and later Marcel Duchamp with his intricate and often provocative works.”

Malik soon enrolled himself at the Louvre School to study the techniques and history of art.

“How lucky I was,” he recalls, “…with my Louvre student card I could visit all the museums in Europe for free and never hesitated for a moment to take buses and trains or to hitchhike to London, Rome, Naples, Amsterdam, Madrid, not to speak of many cities of France, to stand facing the classic tableaux, watercolours, engravings and statues I had never dreamt of seeing in my lifetime.”

After studies Malik began his professional career in a French architecture firm. But a chance encounter in Paris in 1996 with Prof Salima Hashmi, then principal of the National College of Arts (NCA), changed his destiny definitively. Upon her invitation he moved to Lahore the next year to teach interior design, a first for the NCA. He would continue as the founder and head of the department until 2001.

Though his academic responsibilities would vary and even multiply through the coming years, Ejaz Malik was never willing to give up his creative incentives. He made it an obligation upon himself to find time to paint.

He was also irresistibly drawn to sculpture. He says, “In the same way as the traditional Chinese painters would stare at mountains, rivers and valleys for days and days, meditating then transferring their visions to their creations, I began reading works of Ghalib, Tagore, Faiz, Manto and Dr Mubarak Ali. I listened and listened to the singing of Pathanay Khan and visually absorbed all the details in the paintings of Sadequain. The inspiration thus developed liberated me from all kinds of constraints and offered me newer dimensions to form their likenesses.”

Malik adds it was a surprise to him when his paintings were appreciated by well-known experts: “I was thrilled beyond expectations when one of my triptychs was selected by the National Gallery of Islamabad as part of its permanent collection. What a pride it is to see one’s works in the company of masterpieces by great painters of Pakistan.”

The artist regrets that most galleries in Pakistan today simply ignore the idea of promoting art and encouraging unknown talents. He says, “People like Ali Imam are no more and those who are in this business are primarily driven by the urge to make money. It’s no wonder then that many rich people in Pakistan buy paintings primarily because their colour scheme matches the sofas and rugs in their drawing rooms and not for the creative qualities of the works themselves.”

Malik firmly believes that all artistic activities are a synthesis of not only painting and sculpting but also of music, literature and architecture combined.

“If I am working on a sculpture of say, Noor Jahan or Iqbal Bano,” he concludes, “… it’ll not be enough for me to look at their photographs only. I’ll also make myself watch their films, listen to their songs and read their interviews to profoundly capture their personalities.”

The writer is an art critic based in Paris. ZafMasud@gmail.com

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, December 18th, 2016