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RIYADH: Pakistani artist Zainab Anwar’s compelling work features vibrant colors and surrealist depictions of Arab and South Asian cultures, with a focus on the challenges women and girls face in society.

Anwar, 24, was born in Pakistan and moved to Saudi Arabia when she was 8. She spent her formative years in the capital, attending Manarat Riyadh International School. She left the kingdom at 18 to attend university in Canada and has since returned.

“I grew up here with people from different cultures. However, I often didn’t see families from different cultures interacting with each other. In school, South Asians and Arabs interacted with each other, but I didn’t see any media representation of that.

“I felt that our societies outside of school were completely separate. This led me to create intercultural work. To represent the experiences of South Asians in the Middle East.”

Anwar began his artistic journey by portraying Pakistani women in various contexts.

“I then started drawing dark-skinned, hairy women because I thought these were the things that black women were being humiliated for. I saw girls in school bullying each other for these beauty standards, both Arab and South Asian girls.”

Art has been an outlet for her during times when she has struggled with mental health issues.

“Later, I began using surrealist art to represent the difficult feelings and experiences I had with my depression and anxiety. Growing up with a stigma around mental health, it took me many years to understand these emotions. And creating art about them helped me deal with those feelings.”

She added: “I believe that art can help shed light on difficult issues and also bring a sense of peace to people who suffer from such social problems and mental illnesses.

“I found that society struggles to address the experiences that all women and girls face, such as sexual harassment and unrealistic beauty standards.”

Bright and colorful backgrounds are Anwar's artistic signature. “The main source of inspiration for the colors I use in the paintings is Pakistani culture,” he said.

“One form of art used by truck drivers in Pakistan is called truck art. Truck drivers decorate their trucks with bright, contrasting colors to draw attention to them. I have been drawn to these trucks since I was a child and I think that led me to use bright colors in my work.”

Anwar's portfolio shows an experimental use of different mediums, including ink, pencil, photography and traditional art forms such as embroidery. His current preference is the use of acrylic paints for his work.

Although she portrays aspects of South Asian and Arab culture, Anwar says that women tend to relate to her art regardless of where they are from. “They can relate to the many universal experiences of being a woman that I depict in my work. People also appreciate cross-cultural work and see it as a reflection of the society we live in.”

Anwar says he tries to capture the full range of human experience in his work, including joy and pain which are “important to society, both for the artist and the viewer.”