CONTACT: ateliermisbah@gmail.com
Misbah Ahmed (she/her) is a Toronto-based multidisciplinary artist working primarily in painting, ceramic sculpture, and printmaking. Her art merges research on historical non-Western crafts and artifacts with a dedication to environmental themes, reflecting her growing concern for ecological issues.
Born in Islamabad, Pakistan, Ahmed grew up in Canada as a Muslim woman in a post-9/11 world. Navigating life as a racialized, diasporic subject in a purportedly multicultural Canada, she draws upon both personal and collective experiences, including familial and archival research, and imbues them with narratives and symbols from Pakistani and South Asian cultural forms.
Recalling environments shaped by memory and imagination she intertwines themes of climate crisis, shifting cultural landscapes, superstition, and existence within a racialized female body. Through her art, Ahmed tells stories of grief and resilience.
Ahmed has completed a Bachelor of Design in Illustration from OCAD University in 2018, where she received the program medal. She has been teaching in the illustration program since 2020 and is also a part-time instructor at the Art Gallery of Burlington, where she leads ceramic classes and craft workshops for students of various ages.
In 2024, she founded Sehn Studio, an inclusive community space located at 401 Richmond. At Sehn Studio, she holds private classes and facilitates guest workshops aimed at both emerging creatives and established artists across the Greater Toronto Area.
Her zines are published by Colour Code Printing and Old Growth Press.
CV
Education
2018 Bachelor of Design in Illustration; Ontario
College of Art and Design University; Toronto, ON
2025 Dry Thunder,
Art Gallery of Burlington,
Burlinton, ON;
curated by Sarah Edo
2022 Summer Night in Islamabad,
Trinity Square Video,
Toronto, ON;
curated by Karina Iskandarsjah
2021 Belonging to Each Other,
Xpace Cultural Centre,
Toronto, ON;
curated by Philip Ocampo, Natalie King
2019 If Nothing Can Save Us From Death, May Love At Least Save Us From Life,
The Loon Gallery,
Toronto, ON;
curated by Oliver Roberts
2024 New Strata II: Five years,
Hearth Gallery, Toronto ON
2023 The World that Belongs to Us,
The New Art Gallery Walsall, Walsall, UK
2021 In-Residence,
Towards Gallery, Toronto, ON
2019 New Strata,
Hearth Gallery, Toronto, ON
2019 One of These Things is Not Like the Other,
Aspace Gallery, Toronto, ON
2019 We Are Each Other’s Muses,
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, ON
2017 South Asian Evocations and Becomings,
Chinatown Soup Gallery, New York, NY
2025 Exhibition Assistance, Ontario Arts Council
2023 Creation Grant, Toronto Arts Council
2020 CUE Grant, Margin of Eras Gallery
2018 Illustration Medal Winner, OCAD University
2018 Project 31 Award, OCAD University
2018 Nora E. Vaughan Award, OCAD University
2024 Artist in Residence, Art Gallery of Burlington
2018 401 Richmond Career Launcher Residency, OCAD University
Daysha Loppie. “A very strange weather phenomenon has struck the Art Gallery of Burlington.” CBC Arts, Jan 28, 2025.