Samreen Asghar is a Pakistani contemporary visual artist, researcher, and educator whose practice reinterprets the rich legacy of South Asian miniature painting through a contemporary lens.

Education and Early Career

Asghar earned a Master's degree in Fine Arts, specialising in Indian miniature paintings and techniques, from the College of Art and Design, Punjab University, Lahore. Her foundational training in the miniature tradition has since expanded to draw from Kangra, Pahari, Persian, Chinese, and Japanese traditions, each infused with a contemporary aesthetic.

Artistic Practice

Asghar's distinctive technique involves weaving golden threads through her compositions, illuminating them with a "captivating radiance." Navigating a unique hybrid background shaped by diverse teaching experiences across artistic, architectural, and design subjects, she has gradually expanded her perspective to explore broader horizons within painting. She has completed more than 1,000 commissioned artworks for private, corporate, and institutional collections, while undertaking collaborative community-based creative projects that highlight the transformative potential of art. Her professional collaborations extend to organisations such as Pakistan Tobacco Company and Care International in Pakistan.

A 2026 work titled Liminal (watercolours on wasli) was featured alongside a poem in The Aleph Review.

Exhibitions

Asghar's portfolio comprises six solo exhibitions, three two-person shows, and participation in over 40 group exhibitions. In 2026, she was the most senior practitioner in Saat Kahaniyan, Aik Sath (Seven Stories, Together), a group exhibition of seven artists working within the Indo-Persian miniature tradition, bringing over two decades of practice to the show. Fellow artists included Ali Gilani, Bakhtawar Naqvi, Hifza Khan, Onaiz Taji, Ramsha Rubbani, and Safwan Bashir.

Teaching and Mentorship

Asghar holds the position of Assistant Professor at COMSATS University Islamabad, within the Department of Art and Design, where she has been imparting knowledge in drawing and aesthetics for architecture and design programmes since 2009. In addition to her university role, she serves as a juror for Masters and Graduation theses in Fine Arts at both Punjab University, Lahore, and Fatima Jinnah University, Rawalpindi, since 2002.

Research and Publications

Asghar's research interests span painting, miniature painting, and 2D and 3D art. Her published work includes a study on the extravagant usage of gold in Mughal miniature court painting, evaluating the lavish epoch of Emperor Shah Jahan (1628–1658).