A Lahore-native who’s been settled abroad for many a year, Nazia understands too well how experiences between people are frequently mediated by social and internal barriers. These boundaries are built by class, creed, race, religion, family – as well as a plethora of other factors. She says she finds that humans have a “tendency to distance themselves from that which is different”. Nazia employs the concept of the ‘Jaali’ – the screen used on our doors and windows – as a metaphor for the smokescreen through which human beings view what is ‘outside’ – as well as for how those who are outside try to look within. She uses the “physicality of screens as metaphors for points of separation within a space.” She has drawn at her cultural roots and her cross-cultural learning as sources of inspiration for her work. Indo-Islamic art and architecture – inspiration from the old city of Lahore and the Lahore Fort – has been an important facet in her painting, as screens are often used in it for “separation, for demarcating a space, to form boundaries, to shroud and reveal, depending on the perspective of the viewer. The interconnected and symmetrical structure of the screen creates awareness of a space beyond the gaze but obstructs it at the same time.” The screen colours the gaze of the one within and the one without. Nazia interestingly “investigates the politics of representation of the self and the other, where one who narrates and represents from a privileged position often directs the gaze.” At the same time as studying ingrained perspectives, in a hopeful twist, she explores shifting perspectives, and crossing thresholds by using mirrors in her work too. She says “although the subject matter of the work is personal, it does, I hope, address universal concerns.” Nazia Ejaz attended the National College of Art in Lahore and passed with Honours before going to London for her Masters in Visual Arts from the Slade School of Art, UCL. She received a scholarship to study Indian Art History in London. She has worked as a print-maker, painter, and teacher in the UK, Australia and Pakistan and now lives in Adelaide, Australia. Her previous work comprises cityscapes, of Lahore in particular, and portraiture. She has depicted cities that are densely constructed as emblematic of memory-filled ghosts of places. Her exhibition starts this Saturday, the 28th of November and goes on till the 12th of December, 2015 at Rohtas II Gallery. Rohtas II is a universally acclaimed non-profit, volunteer-run art gallery opened initially as Mrs. Salima Hashmi’s studio. In an effort to provide a platform to budding artists for displaying their work, she opened up her studio to the public – a public which quickly turned ravenous for the rich work on display. Now, Rohtas II has regular exhibitions. Great names like Imran Qureshi, Ayesha Khalid, Huma Mulji, Fareeda Batool – and a host of others – have all shown at the gallery where “everything is for the sake of art.” For more information on the exhibition and on Nazia’s work visit her Facebook page.