Veeda Ahmed, PhD, 2013

Veeda is a London based artist holding an MFA (Gold Medal) from the University of Punjab, Pakistan (1974). She studied at the Ruskin School of Art, University of Oxford (1977) before receiving her PhD at the School of Traditional Arts in 2013. She has trained under miniature and illumination masters, renowned geometers, icon painters, Japanese artists, and paper makers. She pulls together these threads of learning to weave a dialogue with traditional miniature painting, illumination, sacred geometry, and drawing. Her forms move freely without boundaries as she draws from these knowledge pools to create a way of painting that blurs the lines between the traditional, representational, and contemporary. She also incorporates the painstaking process of making her own paints as she feels that it adds a special glow to her work. In her painting, Veeda’s gaze is directed upwards towards the heavens. Moons, angels, wings, birds, trees and branches, and the tree of life feature prominently.

She exhibits widely, including two solo exhibitions: ‘Echoes of Contemplation’ (2017) at the Prince’s Foundation, London and ‘In the Absence of Shadows’ (2019), at Minaretein Gallery, Doha. Most recently her work has been included in shows at the Aga Khan Centre Gallery in London in 2021 and 2023. Her work is held in private and public collections all over the world.

Instagram @veedaahmed