Meet the Artist

Anam

Feerasta

Drawing and Painting

“I think of my paintings as deconstructed self-portraits. They explore feelings of fragmentation that are rooted in my ongoing struggle to build an independent identity, whilst balancing familial and cultural expectations. Painted primarily in acrylic and oil paints, my work also examines the perpetual nature of the journey from fragmentation to alignment within oneself, which is synonymous with the journey to reclaim identity.My work combines figuration, abstraction, and symbolism to create layered, textural compositions that are inspired by collage, my Pakistani upbringing and childhood memories of home. It depicts contorted, vulnerable, and often disengaged bodies in abstract spaces. These bodies allude to fragmented identities, and to the multiplicity of an identity resulting from gender-biased responsibilities and cultural expectations. While my work seeks to challenge these longstanding expectations, the rich colours, imagery, and symbolism embedded in the work celebrate and empower women who share in a similar struggle to reclaim identity.

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Anam Feerasta (she/her) is a Pakistani-Canadian artist, and a fourth-year student at OCAD University. She lives and works in Toronto. Anam is the recipient of the 2021 Marsh Urquhart and the 2020 Kendra Jaal McCleskey Memorial Scholarships. She also holds a B.A. in Economics and International Development from McGill University. Informed by personal experiences with culture and identity, Anam creates visual narratives that invite a broader dialogue about the place of women in society, and the factors that lead women like herself to feel fragmented and disembodied. Since switching careers in 2015 to pursue art full-time, Anam has exhibited her work in Pakistan and Toronto. Her work is currently represented by Kismet Art Co. She will also be showing her work at the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair this summer. Anam expects to graduate with a BFA from OCAD University in September 2022.
OCAD U - Faculty of Art
Drawing and Painting
Major In progress, 2022
OCAD University
Continuing Studies Certificate in Theory and Criticism in Art and Design
Minor Completed, 2018
McGill University
BA, Economics and International Development Studies
Major Completed, 2010
U of T Mississauga
Art and Art History Program
Major Transferred, 2018

Drawing and Painting

2022, Blueprint For A Collective Home
Great Hall, OCAD University, Toronto, Canada
2021, Bodies in Fleeting Reality
Virtual Exhibition, OCAD University via Kunstmatrix
2020, Less than Perfect
La Villa, Lahore, Pakistan
2019, First Self - Investigating Cultural Appropriation
OCAD University, Toronto, Canada
2019, Less than Perfect
Hamail Art Gallery, Lahore, Pakistan
2018, National Jubilee Arts Exhibit
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto, Canada
2018, Norouz
Queen Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2018, Shedding Light on the Shadow
Artusiasm, Toronto, Canada
2018, Regional Jubilee Arts Exhibit
Aga Khan Museum, Toronto, Canada
2018, Colourful Energy
Artusiasm, Toronto, Canada
2017, Queen West Art Crawl
Trinity Bellwoods Park, Toronto, Canada
2021, Marsh Urquhart Memorial Scholarship
OCAD University
2020, Kendra Jaal McCleskey Memorial Scholarship
OCAD University
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