Anam Feerasta

BIO

Anam Feerasta (b. 1988, Karachi) is a Pakistani-Canadian artist based in Toronto. She works primarily with acrylic and oil paints on canvas and plexiglass. Anam’s paintings are deconstructed self-portraits in which she explores feelings of fragmentation, and the eternal quest to achieve alignment of the self. Her work seeks to capture, in essence and in experience, the internal push and pull that is reclaiming identity through a feminist lens.

Anam depicts women’s vulnerable bodies in abstract worlds to make space for women like herself to question self-knowledge, share their stories, and reclaim their identities. These bodies allude to fragmented identities and to the multiplicity of an identity resulting from unresolved feelings and gender-biased expectations. Anam’s practice is inspired by collage, patterns, mythology, spirituality, family, and childhood memories of home.

Anam recently graduated from OCAD University with a BFA in Drawing and Painting with distinction. She was the recipient of the Mrs. W.O. Forsyth Award (2022), the Marsh Urquhart Memorial Scholarship (2021), and the Kendra Jaal McCleskey Memorial Scholarship (2020) at OCAD University. Anam also holds a B.A. in Economics and International Development from McGill University.