Hafsa Habib
Birth Year: 1997
Birthplace: Faisalabad, Pakistan

Hafsa Habib is a Pakistani visual artist whose work focuses on the emotional and archival significance of every day, often discarded materials. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting from the Institute of Art & Design, Government College University, Faisalabad, which she completed in 2019.

From a young age, Hafsa developed a habit of collecting old paper items such as handwritten notes, receipts, and documents. These seemingly mundane objects form the foundation of her artistic practice. Through them, she explores themes of memory, identity, and the aesthetics of forgotten material culture. Her art investigates the intersection of personal history and collective memory, transforming overlooked ephemera into evocative visual narratives.

Artistic Practice
Hafsa’s work is deeply rooted in research and observation. She uses painting as a means to reinterpret and recontextualize found paper objects, highlighting their hidden beauty and emotional weight. Her approach is reflective and archival, aiming to preserve the traces of human presence found in the folds, stains, and markings of each object.

Themes and Influences
Memory and Identity: Her art meditates on how memory is stored, recalled, and forgotten, both individually and collectively.

Material History: She draws attention to the overlooked value of everyday materials and their capacity to tell personal and cultural stories.

South Asian Context: Her work resonates with regional histories and aesthetics, reflecting a culturally specific yet universally relatable inquiry into preservation and loss.

Artist Statement
"My practice explores the emotional and archival value of discarded paper objects handwritten notes, old receipts, and worn documents often considered insignificant. These fragments act as quiet vessels of memory, preserving traces of human presence through stains, folds, and scribbles. What began as a personal habit of collecting such materials evolved into a visual inquiry into memory, identity, and the aesthetics of the overlooked.

Through detailed painting, I transform these ephemeral remnants into intimate visual archives. Rooted in a South Asian context, my work reflects on personal and collective memory, offering quiet acts of preservation that reflect on what we choose to remember and what we forget.