CONTACT: ateliermisbah@gmail.com
Misbah Ahmed (she/her) is a Toronto based multidisciplinary artist working primarily in painting, ceramic sculpture and print mediums. Her work 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, she moved to Canada as a child. She draws from both research and personal experiences, imbuing narratives and symbology from the Pakistani and wider South Asian diaspora into her work.
By examining themes of climate crisis, shifting cultural landscapes, and the nuances of everyday human experience, Ahmed aims to sustain and extend generational practices, using them to reconnect with ancestral landscapes and cultural heritage.
Ahmed has a background in illustration design and teaches in the Illustration program at OCAD University.
Her zines are published by Colour Code Printing and Old Growth Press.
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.