Shanzay
Shanzay Subzwari's primary practice revolves around esoteric and socio-political themes rendered in gouache on archival prints of currency notes. She also works in acrylic painting and video art.
Currently available
1 original available
About Shanzay
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Shanzay Subzwari is a visual artist and writer with an MFA (distinction) from London Metropolitan University (on the British Chevening Scholarship, 2020). Her work is rooted in the tradition of Mughal Miniature painting. She is drawn to questions of history, politics, society and the deeper dimensions of human experience. Her work incorporates the currency note as a point of departure, which carries within it stories of power, culture and collective memory. She also works with acrylic paint on canvas and video art. Her international exhibitions and residencies span Finland, Switzerland, Spain, Wales, USA, Italy, Turkey, and Pakistan. She works in miniature painting, video, and paper-cutting, with pieces held in notable collections, including the South Asian Institute, Chicago. She is an adjunct faculty member of her alma mater, Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture (2023-24). Apart from her paintings, she explores her ideas via video art. Since 2021, she has been in an artist exchange with London-based artist Joel Chernin and Welsh artist Lauren Heckler. Lauren and Shanzay received grants from the British Council and Wales Art International to travel to each other’s countries. Their collaborative video art was part of the major award-winning exhibition, Tigers and Dragons, at Glynn Vivian Gallery, Swansea, Wales, from May- Nov 2025. Shanzay received the Charles Wallace Fellowship for artistic research in the UK in 2026 to further develop this collaboration. Always interested in interdisciplinary exchange, Shanzay has collaborated with brands like Spotify, SFK Bridals and Khaadi as an artist, designer and model. She hosts the ArtLounge Talks on Instagram, and hosted the 2023 and 2025 Nigaah Art Awards. She founded her Art x Fashion brand, House of Subzwari, in 2025 and is a finalist of the Culture and Creativity Award at the Study UK Alumni Awards 2025 in Pakistan. She recently had her 4th solo art exhibition, Lands Beyond the Veil, at VM Gallery in 2026.
How Shanzay works
My work process is partly planned and partly intuitive, with detailed pieces taking days, weeks or months to create, depending on the size and level of detail of the work. In my contemporary miniature works, I use delicate squirrel hair brushes with gouache paint to render motifs inspired by Mughal miniature painting. Works in other mediums involve a similar level of layering and detail.
Inside the studio
Where the work happens
One hand, one piece
Start a bespoke with Shanzay
Tell us what you're imagining — subject, size, palette, where it will hang. Shanzaydevelops a concept, shares a work-in-progress photo, and only ships once you've approved the finished piece. Every bespoke arrives with a Certificate of Authenticity.
- Bespoke from
- $1,200
- Timeline
- 4–8 weeks
- Milestones
- Concept · WIP · Final
Other voices
