Ayessha Quraishi (born October 28, 1970) is a contemporary visual artist who lives and works in Karachi, Pakistan.
Quraishi received an initial art training from Karachi-based educator Nayyar Jamiland has since dedicated over three decades to refining her distinctive technique and visual language. Her artistic practice frequently incorporates a variety of mediums, including drawing, painting, sculpture, performance, and digital photography.
Quraishi's artwork has been showcased on an international scale, notably at the Istanbul Biennial in 2019. In 2020, the Koel Gallery in Karachi hosted a significant mid-career retrospective entitled "Between Light in Karachi," showcasing pieces spanning thirty-five years (1985-2020) of her prolific and ongoing career. Accompanying this retrospective was the publication of a comprehensive monograph in February 2020.
Quraishi spent her formative years in Cornwall and Islamabad before her family established roots in Karachi in 1976. At the age of seven, the passing of her father profoundly impacted her, prompting her to delve into deeper questions about life, moving beyond its superficial realities to explore its subtler nuances. This transition from the representational to the abstract was a natural evolution that manifested in her artwork from an early juncture.
Quraishi initiated her art career as an art teacher at the Convent of Jesus and Mary, Karachi in 1988. Between 1988 and 1993, she taught children at the Art Workshop alongside designing furniture. From 1993 to 2000, Quraishi worked as a business partner and designer for the store Solo. Subsequently, from 2003 to 2010, she worked in the same capacity for Karachi-based home accessories store Object.
In 2022 Quraishi and Marium Agha were nominated for the 2022 Sovereign Asian Art Prize.
Ayessha Quraishi's work has been exhibited widely in Pakistan and internationally in both group and solo exhibitions.
The Monograph Between Light was published on the occasion of Ayessha Quraishi's mid-career retrospective on 4 February 2020. It is a comprehensive volume on the work of the artist's prolific and continuing career spanning thirty-five years from 1985 to 2020.
It includes a curatorial essay by Zarmeene Shah and articles by Quddus Mirza, Maha Malik and Aasim Akhtar.