Sabahat Quadri
About Sabahat
Sabahat Quadri (b. 1973) is a watercolour artist whose work explores the light and shadow of the places she inhabits, with a focus on Karachi. She grew up a nomad, travelling through 3 continents before she and her family settled in Karachi, Pakistan.
Quadri received her Bachelor’s in Communication Design from the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture.
After establishing herself as a designer, editor, and writer in traditional and digital publishing for 28 years, she left her corporate career behind to pursue her true passion: watercolours.
She writes and paints full-time with her cats in Karachi.
From the Artist
Watercolours are inherently unpredictable. That appeals to me, because I’ve spent a lifetime learning to control every aspect of my life. When I paint, however, I have to let go of my control and adjust to the flow. This reminds of living in Karachi, a city as unpredictable as the water it craves.
I paint the people, places, and moments that make Karachi what it is; from the ever-present crows to the mobile stores, the motorcycles, the rickshaws, the dirty streets, the street food, the powerlines, the makeshift ingenuity of small businesses, the monsoons, the dust, the ancient trees and architecture, the men, women, and children that seek shelter against a relentless sun and teeming humanity.
Karachi is the overcrowded, sprawling, beating heart of Pakistan and I love living here.
