“Bringing forth the underlying factors of the society based on a false utopia fabricated my ideology on how to express through layers, and delicate imagery representing transition and transcendence.”
Yasir Waqas' work deals with compromises and conflicts, between ideas innate and ideas implanted, and the damage to the personality and the idea itself. His work often comprises different layered parts, juxtaposed in a way that the abstract visuals speak metaphorically about the conflicts within a person's belief system and aim to address the contradictions within a system, which can lead to inner destruction on the whole and on a macro level, infect the entire race. He feels it is the duty and responsibility of the artist to address societal and political issues at hand.
Yasir Waqas (b. 1985, Quetta, Pakistan) graduated from the National College of Arts Lahore in 2013 where he specialized in miniature painting. His first solo exhibition ‘Flight’ was held at Rohtas ii Gallery, Lahore, in 2017. His artistic growth has taken place not only around Pakistan but also internationally. His group and solo exhibitions have taken place in Italy, India, and Dubai. He is also a trained GPL pilot and an aircraft mechanic. Becoming a professional pilot felt constraining to him thus; he expresses himself through art and is now a full-time artist. He is a recipient of the Arjumand Art Prize by Gallery 6 at the Pakistan National Council of Arts, Islamabad (2017). He is currently a part of a cartography project associated with the British Council of Pakistan and the Faiz Foundation taking place with the children of the Walled City of Lahore. He lives and works in Lahore.