A visual and literary collaboration, titled Fortuitous Collision, between artist Madiha Hyder and curator-writer Nafisa Rizvi is on display at Canvas Gallery.

Madiha Hyder’s skillful and sensitive portraits are accompanied by evocative verses written specifically for each painting. Each pairing tells a complete story and transports the viewer/reader into the protagonist’s life. Rendered in oil, some of the most effective works, in black and white or sepia tones, have been done in oil on paper using a dry brush technique which allows a fineness of line while retaining the fullness of the pigment.

The idea for the collaborative show stems from a conversation between Madiha and Nafisa when the former spoke about her tendency to create detailed visuals of the people and places she read about in stories. Since verse flows easily from this writer’s pen, and she is very familiar with the artist’s oeuvre, the two decided on this novel approach.

All the poems in the show were written specifically for the paintings they accompany. Some were given to the artist first and she painted around them, while in some cases, the powerful images inspired the writings.

The show will continue at Canvas Gallery till November 15th.