Zarina Hashmi Biography 
Zarina Hashmi, referred to as Zarina is an Indian artist based in USA. Drawing, printmaking and sculpture are the different areas in which she works. Abstract and minimal, she explores the concept of home through her art pieces. Indian-born American artist has been working in New York for the past 30 years. Her main medium is paper, which she employs in woodcuts, etchings, drawings, rubbings, and casts made from paper pulp. She was one among the four Indian artists to be featured at the first entry at the Venice Biennale in 2011. Some of her works are permanent collections in some art galleries and museums in US and other countries.
Zarina Hashmi was born in Aligarh, UP, India. Her family was displaced to Pakistan after partition and they settled in Karachi in the 1950s. She completed graduation before marriage. Zarina married and began a life abroad. Along with her husband she travelled to many countries like Thailand, France and Japan to learn more about different printmaking methods. While in France she worked as an apprentice to Stanley William Hayte. Finally she got settled in New York in 1976, and has been living and working there since then. She served as a board member of the New York Feminist Art Institute in the 1980s. She has also conducted workshops for papermaking methods.
Her works explores the idea of home, distances, and trajectories. Her extensive travels have influenced her works a lot. She also uses visual elements from Islamic religious decoration found in Islamic architecture for her art. Her work often centers on the theme of home. Apart from art, she is interested in Urdu poetry and every day before she goes to bed, listens to Urdu recitals in YouTube.
Published: January 28, 2019
Updated: January 28, 2019
