Bio 
(B. 1987) Sophia Balagamwala is an illustrator and artist based in Karachi. She completed her BA from the University of Toronto (2010) and her MFA from Cornell University (2014). Her work draws from history, children’s books, political caricatures and animated films. She is interested in how stories are constructed, in particular, the myths of national heroes and national histories.
Artist Statement | The Perfect Gentleman
Her practice explores the intersectional space in which history, fiction and nonsense converge. Her most recent works are interested in investigating the representations in colonial era portratiture and objects
(B. 1987) Sophia Balagamwala is an illustrator and artist based in Karachi. She completed her BA from the University of Toronto (2010) and her MFA from Cornell University (2014). Her work draws from history, children’s books, political caricatures and animated films. She is interested in how stories are constructed, in particular, the myths of national heroes and national histories. Artist Statement | The Perfect Gentleman
Her practice explores the intersectional space in which history, fiction and nonsense converge. Her most recent works are interested in investigating the representations in colonial era portratiture and objects
Artist Statement | I, too, am a part of this history
I am interested in how stories are constructed, in particular, the myths of national heroes and national histories. My work explores the space where the history meets fiction and nonsense. This fictional object claims to have been gifted to the wife of Ghulam Mohyuddin. The piece is inspired objects currently living in the Fakir Khana museum, fabricated stories and missing histories.
I am interested in how stories are constructed, in particular, the myths of national heroes and national histories. My work explores the space where the history meets fiction and nonsense. This fictional object claims to have been gifted to the wife of Ghulam Mohyuddin. The piece is inspired objects currently living in the Fakir Khana museum, fabricated stories and missing histories.
Artist Statement | Sagar Theatre on Queen’s Road
Sophia Balagamwala (b. 1987, Pakistan) lives and works in Karachi. Balagamwala received a BA from the University of Toronto (2010) and an MFA from Cornell University (2014). Balagamwala’s work lives in the space where history meets nonsense and fiction. Her practice explores myths of national heroes and histories, and how these histories become exaggerated, simplified and monumentalized. The subjects of her portraits, sometimes men sometimes beasts but always decorated and important, struggle with their identities and responsibilities. Stuck in colonial formats, they inhabit a gaudy and tragic space between their colonial past and their present.
Sophia Balagamwala (b. 1987, Pakistan) lives and works in Karachi. Balagamwala received a BA from the University of Toronto (2010) and an MFA from Cornell University (2014). Balagamwala’s work lives in the space where history meets nonsense and fiction. Her practice explores myths of national heroes and histories, and how these histories become exaggerated, simplified and monumentalized. The subjects of her portraits, sometimes men sometimes beasts but always decorated and important, struggle with their identities and responsibilities. Stuck in colonial formats, they inhabit a gaudy and tragic space between their colonial past and their present.
