As the global art world converges at Art Dubai 2025, one voice stands out for its poignant exploration of identity, gender, and the politics of representation. In this interview, the artist behind the thought-provoking series The Male Figure speaks about the inspiration behind their work, the impact of global conflicts, and the personal and cultural influences that shape their intricate visual narratives.
WOW360: Please tell us about the inspiration for the central theme or subject of your artwork at this exhibition at Art Dubai.
Faiza Butt: The curated body of work titled The Male Figure features archetypal examples of my practice. My work focuses on gender politics as part of broader debates in art. I consistently depict the ‘Muslim man’ using distinct cultural references, often rendered in soft pastel shades to disarm and challenge knee-jerk cultural associations. These portrayals aim to humanize and complicate a figure often flattened by stereotype.
WOW360: You’ve explored themes of politics, gender, and identity in your earlier artwork. How is the current changing political environment reflected in your work?
Faiza Butt: I see myself as a social commentator. As an artist of migratory origins, I continue to explore dislocation, cultural constructs, conflict, and various socio-political issues of our time. The recent conflicts in the Middle East have deeply affected us all, and I address societal polarization through provocative visual narratives.
One such work, Speech to the Wind, features two male portraits—one of a Muslim man and the other of a Hasidic Jew. At first glance, they appear almost identical, sharing common visual elements: central composition, beards, head coverings, and contemplative expressions. They are placed against a meticulously rendered skyscape, filled with shooting stars and cosmic flux—symbolic of the larger, eternal realities that surround us. This backdrop serves as a contemplative counterpoint to the imagined nature of human conflicts and ideological clashes. The piece is created in hope—to spark reflection and deeper understanding in these troubled times.
I’ve drawn two male portraits, distinct in their spiritual identities. They both display very similar features in their outlooks with head gear and facial hair, however it is clear that they stand at opposing ends of religious identities. -Faiza Butt, March 2025
WOW360: Your signature style, with its intricate dotting technique, has been compared to the pardokht style in miniature painting. What does this meticulous process mean to you as an artist, and how does it shape the emotional tone of your work?
Faiza Butt: My inspiration originally came from photojournalism—chance encounters with powerful images in the media. I repurpose these photographs through a detailed process of distillation, creating new narratives. My drawings, crafted in ink on polyester film using thousands of fine dots, balance between Indian miniature techniques and the pixelated language of digital photography.
The rigorous act of constructing each image dot by dot builds not only a visual surface but an emotional resonance. This meditative process infuses my work with depth and allows the viewer to connect more intimately with the subject.
WOW360: Was there a particular moment or influence—personal or cultural—that sparked the creation of this body of work?
Faiza Butt: Yes—during my time as a student at the Slade School of Art, I actively rejected traditional painting as a form of protest against Western art history. Instead, I embraced image-making rooted in Indo-Persian miniature traditions. This wasn’t just a rebellion against cultural imperialism, but also a feminist resistance to the longstanding hierarchies in art—where historically, man is the creator and woman the object.
My practice is an inquiry into the human condition. Migration is in my DNA; I’ve inherited generations of stories about displacement and the search for belonging. This current series of male portraits, especially those in distinct religious garb, is my artistic response to global unrest. At a time when ideological divides are sharpening, I believe the role of the artist becomes more urgent than ever—to question, to provoke, and to inspire.
WOW360: Art Dubai attracts a diverse and international audience—what conversations or reflections are you hoping to spark through your presence here? What message would you want your work to convey?
Faiza Butt: Dubai, as a hub of the global south, provides a uniquely diverse and economically dynamic environment. It’s an ideal setting for raising bold, reflective questions. With its vast migrant population, Dubai stands as a testament to harmonious co-existence—but that doesn’t mean art should become complacent.
Art must remain a space for critical engagement. I hope my work evokes dialogue around the fragility of peace, the need for shared power, and the ongoing issues of prejudice, discrimination, and cultural control. Through my finely crafted portraits of men, I aim to explore humanity itself—not from the standpoint of ideology, but from a place of empathy, curiosity, and reflection.
About the Artist
Born in Lahore, Pakistan, Faiza Butt trained at the National College of Arts, Lahore and the Slade School of Fine Arts, London. Her meticulously crafted paintings use a technique reminiscent of the ‘par dokht’ style in miniature painting, involving application of tiny dots. Butt’s work has been exhibited in various museums and included in several publications.