Yasir Waqas was born in Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan and graduated from the National College of Arts Lahore in 2013. He specialized in miniature painting and currently based in Lahore. In distant memories of growing up, learning mechanics of airplanes and watching the details of engines were something fondly he did. Being a GPL Pilot and an aircraft mechanic, felt limited and constrained. Something started a contradictory conflict within. What lies between is a huge haze of confusion, clash of ideas and flight from certain circumstances.
His work deals with compromises and conflicts, between idea innate and idea implanted, and the damage to the personality and the idea itself. . The battle of opposing a planted in also explains that it is not easy to make something you think best for yourself and act according to your will doesn’t necessarily makes it your reality. Sometimes it leaves you claustrophobic and again leaves you with a desire to fly to the unknown.
2019: “And at the moment, a lilting melody lifts to the moon as a single sparrow sings” Solo representation at Rohtas 2 Gallery, Lahore, Pakistan.
2019: ‘Vasl II’ a collaborative Exhibition of art and jewelry at Aliel, , Pearl Continental Hotel Lahore, Pakistan
2018: ‘Art for education’ Contemporary art from Pakistan’ Milano Museo Diocesano, Milan Italy.
2018: ‘Zard Patto Ka Bun Jo Mera Shehar Hy’ two person show with Adeelal Suleman , at Faiz International Festival, Alhamra Art Gallery Lahore. Pakistan
2018: ‘Vasl II’ a collaborative Exhibition of art and jewelry at Aliel, Ocean Mall, Karachi, Pakistan
2018: ‘Hashia – The Margin’ Group Exhibition at Bikaner House, New Delhi, India
2018: ‘Vasl’ a collaborative Exhibition of art and jewelry at Aliel, Pearl Continental Hotel Lahore, Pakistan
2018: ‘Indian Art Fair’ New Delhi, India.
2017: ‘Flight’ Solo Exhibition at Rohtas 2 Gallery, Lahore, Pakistan.
2017: ‘Arjumand Art Prize’ by Gallery 6 at PNCA (Pakistan National Council of Arts), Islamabad, Pakistan.
2016: ‘Open Field’ Contemporary Art from Pakistan at PNCA (Pakistan National Council of Arts), Islamabad, Pakistan.
2016: ‘Tales from the Ateliers’ Group Exhibition at Main Frame Gallery, Lahore, Pakistan.
2015: ‘In Transit’ Group exhibition at Full Circle Gallery, Karachi, Pakistan.
2015: ‘CREATIVE SCRIPSTS The language of the artists’ Group exhibition at Ejaz Gallery Lahore, Pakistan.
2014: ‘En-closure’ Group exhibition at Satrang Gallery, Islamabad, Pakistan.
2013: ‘In a room… I trap…the absence of the room’ three person show at Taseer Art Gallery, Lahore, Pakistan.
2013: ‘Beyond Borders Art Exhibition’ Group exhibition at Experimental Art Gallery, Habitat Centre, New Delhi, India.
2013: ‘11’, Group exhibition at Ejaz Art Gallery, Lahore, Pakistan.
2013: Group exhibition of Workshop by Philip Museum at Zahoor-ul-Ikhalq gallery, Lahore, Pakistan.
2008: ‘Transformation’ Zahoor-ul-Ikhalq Gallery, NCA, Lahore, Pakistan
In my distant memories of growing up, learning mechanics of real airplanes and watching the fascinating details of engines was something I fondly did. It triggered my imagination, inspired me to draw them but more than that I was expected to fly them. Being a GPL Pilot and an aircraft mechanic, I felt limited and constrained.Something I wasn’t really sure about started a contradictory conflict within me. What lies between is a huge haze of confusion, clash of ideas and flight from certain circumstances but not able to fully shun what has been planted in one’s mind.
My work is about compromises and conflicts within a personality, between idea innate and idea implanted, and the damage to the personality and the idea itself. The occurrence of feather and metal in my work continue to build and deceive the viewer because of their very nature, one being the artificially created and the other nature itself. Yet it is a contradiction to their very existence. The battle of opposing a planted idea in my work also explains that it is not always easy to make something you think best for yourself and act according to your will doesn’t necessarily makes it your reality. Sometimes it leaves you claustrophobic and again leaves you with a desire to fly to the unknown.