Zarina Hashmi was born on July 16, 1937, in Aligarh, India. Her life took a significant turn during the partition of India in 1947, when her family was uprooted and compelled to relocate to Karachi, Pakistan.
Quintessential Zarina Hashmi artworks are characterised by striking woodcuts and intaglio prints, often blending semi-abstract depictions of the houses and cities she had resided in.
Inspired by Islamic art and incorporating inscriptions in her native Urdu, her works featured captivating geometric elements. Urdu poetry also informs Zarina Hashmi's art style.
In one of Zarina Hashmi prints, ‘Home Is a Foreign Place,’ she uses woodcutting around the themes of migration, borders, and the impact of geographical and cultural displacement.
1. Zarina Hashmi's Home Is a Foreign Place
Zarina Hashmi’s ‘Atlas of My World’ combines woodcut and letterpress to depict a series of maps layered with lines, symbols, and text. It is a metaphor for Zarina Hashmi's exploration of her own identity.
2. Zarina Hashmi's Atlas of My World
Another significant Zarina Hashmi art is ‘Dividing Line’ (2001), where Hashmi employs woodcut and Chine-collé techniques to create a powerful visual representation of borders and divisions.
3. Zarina Hashmi's Dividing Line
Zarina Hasmi’s ‘Letters from Home’ (2004) features eight monochromatic woodblock and metalcut prints, created using original Urdu letters that her sister Rani had written to her.