Mahwish Chishty

Initially trained as a miniature painter from the National College of Arts, Lahore, Pakistan, Mahwish Chishty has aggressively combined new media and conceptual work with her traditional practice. Ms. Chishty has exhibited her work in over fifty exhibitions in national and international venues so far. Some of the more recognized venues are the Imperial War Museum in London, UK; University of Technology (UTS Gallery) in Sydney, Australia; Boghossian Foundation - Villa Empain in Brussels; Utah Museum of Contemporary Art; Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MOCADA) in Brooklyn, NY; and the Gandhara Art Gallery in Karachi, Pakistan. Ms. Chishty's best-known, on-going project, 'Drone series' is inspired by her visit to Pakistan in 2011. By camouflaging modern war machines with folk imagery, Ms. Chishty is shedding light on the complexity of acculturation, politics and power.

In 2015, Ms. Chishty was awarded residencies at Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, NY; Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL; and Vermont Studio Center, Vermont, NY. Last summer, she was a resident at Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, Nebraska City, NE, where she engaged with the local community to construct a sound piece. Ms. Chishty also has works in public and private collections including the Foreign office Islamabad, Pakistan, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka Shi, Japan and the Imperial War Museum, London, UK. This year, Ms. Chishty was awarded the prestigious Solomon R. Guggenheim award. Currently, Ms. Chishty is an Assistant Professor at Kent State University's School of Art.