Twenty-four-year-old Shafiya Shafi, who hails from downtown Srinagar, has showcased her talent at the national level with paintings depicting the life of women.
Being a contemporary and mural artist, she started her career after completing her Masters in Psychology from Kashmir University.
Shafiya said, "I was inclined towards painting since childhood. I started taking part in competitions during college. It became a motivating factor for me and I started painting. It was later converted into a profession."
"My paintings depict the struggle of women in her life. Success stories don't come out of their comfort zone. This is true as I faced a lot of struggles in my life. In Kashmir, parents don't focus much on careers in arts and I had faced struggles in my life due to this perception. My paintings depict my own life".
Having participated in several competitions at the college and university level, she secured the second position in her college for a Digital India Campaign poster-making competition. That was just a beginning. Later, she got the fourth position in the South Festival 2017 in collage making.
Shafiya stood first in collage making at "Youth building peace", an initiative orgzed by the University of Kashmir in 2019.
She was selected for a competition at Maharishi Markandeshwar University in the Ambala city of Haryana where she was placed second in installation and qualified for the nationals. She represented J&K at the National-level for installation at the 33rd National Youth Festival held by the association of Indian Universities at Ranchi and won 1st prize.
Shafiya is now teaching painting to budding artists in Kashmir and wishes that more girls take arts as a profession.
Many professional artists in Kashmir are getting recognition at the national and international levels as their talent is being showcased with the return of peace in the Valley.
( With inputs from ANI )