“For me painting is an absorbing reality. My earliest paintings reflected many social problems but with the passage of time my paintings have become more solitary: mud houses, pigeons, sparrows, kites, shadowy lanes,lonely animals, light, half-closed doors, windows and stairs.All are similes of my expression.I see myself dwelling in a mud house, captivating walls, birds, shadows with rays of light, patches of deepest dark. And amidst them are unseen hidden people. Their unfulfilled desires, their hopes and aspirations all seek thelight of fulfillment. In my fresh work, ceilings of houses and bright lines of light are floating prayers. The doors and windows are dreams. Coming out of the Great Beyond, I see a glimmer of light, a ray of hope. I walk through the dark night, sure-footed, leaving my prison vault far behind.” Mussarat Mirza Mussarat Mirza did her master’s in fine arts from Punjab University, Lahore. From 1965 to 2004, she participated in many in Canada, Iran, U.A. E., Korea, UK, Bangladesh, France, China, Japan, India and East Africa. She has done more than two dozen solo shows across Pakistan and has participated in numerous group exhibitions between 1967 and2008. Mussarat was awarded the International Asian Shield, water color, Osaka, Japan in 1988.