The mind of the painter should be like a mirror, which always takes the colour of the thing that it reflects, and which is filled by as many images as there are things placed before. There is a famous saying, "He who despises painting has no love for the philosophy in nature".
Fauzia Khan fully believes in the above-mentioned saying. That is why she loves both nature and painting. Fauzia's relentless love with nature has prompted her to dedicate herself to the cause of environmental protection through colours. She acknowledges she has chosen a difficult field. But she exudes confidence. Confidence of a person that believes she is doing a right job for the society.
She considers herself a painter of "trees and roots", though she is equally good in drawing the harshness of rocks and stones. Fauzia is an artist of various disciplines. She is an interior decorator and possesses a fine sense of designing. A graduate from Government Girls College Lahore with fine arts with one of her majors, Fauzia treats trees as living beings that need due care for their growth, and when grown, in return, they paid us back in the same coin in the form of shelter, food, and shade to humans and birds.
She, by the passage of time, has developed her own modern mode of painting. But she is not radical. She is a landscape painter and works on calligraphy.
"I believe in the saying that different colours of nature and life ultimately lead us to the ultimate reality. We should love nature because nature loves us", Fauzia says adding that the Almighty Allah has made colours not merely to enrich and beautify this world but also to give peace, tranquility and inspiration to His creatures- human beings and trees.
"My humble plea to my people is that don't commit suicide by chopping down the trees just for petty purposes. When you cut a tree, you actually prepare a coffin for yourself,” she maintains.
Fauzia is predominantly inspired by Sufism. She thinks that both Sufis and trees sacrifice themselves for the human being, and in return they do not expect any reciprocation.
Her two of the best paintings like "Toot Tree Trunk" and "Banyan tree” (the painting has been captioned as Raqs-e-Bismal) are strong, seductive celebrations of pigment, colour and pattern. These paintings elucidate the mystic images in nature so that the struggle goes on to discover the undiscovered. She does not consider herself a great painter. But she vividly expresses the overwhelming contact between nature and humans, mentally and physically. Her forte is the harmonious colour combinations predominantly based on varied tones of violet, brown, green and yellow.
Her other enticing painting "Life of Life" is nearly indecipherable, a stew of overlapping and interlocking patterns and colors. Paint is laid down straight from the tube in free-form blobs, and in smears, and it is sometimes built up to a density that simulates sculptured relief.
One may get lost in a new world of creativity while looking at her painting “Autumn's Spring”. Everything suggests richness, extravagance: and an environment, which has never been intruded except the silence.
Fauzia's painting "Form and Figures" is simply admirable. In this complex picture of roots, she has shown the face of a lady studded in between spiky roots. She has tried to tell that woman has always been targeted by the thorny and spiky behaviour by the male-dominated society, but is still alive and will remain alive owing to her innocence and chastity. Like any true artist, Fauzia is a sensitive person. Her sensitivity is very much palpable in her painting "A Tree with Heart". She portrays that the tree like a human being possesses a heart. A kind heart. The Bunyan tree shown in the painting is some 200 years old or may be more than that. Though, the tree is old, however, unlike human being it is still providing shelter, food and oxygen to the creatures of Allah. The tree imparts a lesson to human being that getting older does not mean that you cannot offer any utility to the society. Fauzia is an optimist, therefore, she spreads optimism through colours. Her painting "It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness" is another fine blend of delicacy and strength of colours. In this painting, she has portrayed an Amaltas tree, whose leaves and roots are used in making of various medicines for human being. This painting shows how nature is delicate and strong simultaneously "Through this painting, I want to give a message to my people that we must do whatever we can in our individual capacity for the society. We all must be like Amaltas tree, which bears the sizzling sunshine, gusty winds and other natural hardships, but in return it has only benefits to offer us,” Fauzia opines.
Fauzia's multi-dimensional approach is very much visible in her painting "Title page". This painting depicts different colours of life. The empty bench underneath a palm-date tree surrounded by a climbing vine of morning flowers depicts the uncertainty of this transitory world. People come to this world, play their role and disappear. People come here, sit on the bench and enjoy the shade of the tree and fragrance of the morning flowers. Human beings, the most beloved creatures of Almighty Allah, should learn a lesson from that. A human being should be like a tree for his fellow beings, which gives more and takes less. Fauzia's inclination towards Sufiism is evident in this painting “Me Raqsam” (I am dancing). The painting shows a tree in ecstasy. When a person loves nature, the nature loves him too. And when a person goes deep in love with nature, he feels himself ecstatic. When he is in rapture, he considers the entire world in ecstasy.
Yet another example of Fauzia's fine work is "The difficulties of life are intended to make us better, not bitter". The painting shows the aftermath of autumn in the form of yellow fallen leaves. Autumn, a symbol of bad time, but in the background, a lush green landscape surrounded by green trees gives a message to us that there is spring after every autumn, there is joy hiding behind every woe. A human being must not be discouraged by the difficulties of life.
Happiness and hardships are two unavoidable facts of life. If there had been no hardship, human beings would not have felt the happiness.
"Five flowers", a striking and narrative painting in primary colours. Another painting slanted to Sufiism showing a diverse visual experience. The five flowers in the painting depict an air of intriguing secrecy. The five flowers coincide with the word Allah. Place your hand on the table, your five fingers makes the word Allah, the supreme reality of the universe.
