Fatema Halvadwala is a representational artist based in London. She layers spaces and
moments in her paintings. She paints with vibrant colours and invests time painting in
riddles and secret symbols. There is more to the picture than what meets the eye, she
likes to say. In her ongoing body of work titled The Shape of Love, she engages in a
narrative deeply intertwined with her identity of being a Dawoodi Bohra woman.
The conversation in her paintings are rooted in 1400 year old history. The love and
sacrifice of Imam Hussain AS leading up to today. Food and communion are themes
through which she celebrates the meaning of life. The artist’s painting style is western
owing to her education and artist influences like Sargent, Degas and Turner. The narrative
in her paintings are made accessible by the juxtaposition of an eastern narrative
represented in the style of western artists. Each brush stroke is thinly applied allowing the
artist’s every brush stroke, gesture and decision to be made visible. The paint application
and the story telling are both transparent. The viewer has the opportunity to engage with
and enter the spaces created to the best of their ability.
Fatema is currently a part of a group show ‘Beyond Belonging’ at Strangers House,
Mumbai. Her Paintings have also been a part of multiple group shows in New York
including ‘Eye to Eye’ a collaborative group show with Arsenal Contemporary and NYAA,
‘Daily Rituals’ at the New York Academy of Art and ‘The Present’ at the Living Gallery.
Born 1998 in Mumbai, Fatema began painting as a child. She earned her B.A from St
Xaviers College Mumbai (Autonomous). During this time she studied oil painting at Sir JJ
School of Art. She went on to earn her M.F.A from the New York Academy of Art in 2024.