Fatima Kaleem (b. 1999) is a Lahore-based visual artist specializing in drawing and printmaking. Currently pursuing her MFA in Painting and Printmaking at Virginia Commonwealth University, USA, she graduated with Honors from the National College of Arts, Lahore, in 2023, majoring in printmaking. Her work, exhibited both nationally and internationally, reflects a deep engagement with personal memory, cultural narratives, and shifting notions of selfhood. She was part of the Print Pals portfolio project (2021), a collaborative printmaking volume between the National College of Arts, Lahore, and the Slade School of Fine Art, London. Her recent exhibitions include O Art Space, UCL Art Museum, Dastaangoi Gallery, Waterloo Festival, Numaish Gah, Full Circle Gallery, Tagheer Lahore, Kaleido Kontemporary, Artescape Gallery, The Roadside, Zahoor-ul-Akhlaq Gallery, and the Pakistan National Council of the Arts.

Kaleem’s practice explores the fluidity of identity, shaped by personal history, cultural lore, and the presence of women in collective memory. Through drawing and printmaking, she navigates the psychological and emotional landscapes of the mind, where figures—sisters, spirits, and ghosts—intertwine, revealing a continuous dialogue between past and present. Her work delves into the porous boundaries of selfhood, examining how external forces shape internal experiences.

She is particularly drawn to superstitions, folklore, and oral histories, questioning their power, transformation, and influence on personal and communal identities. Themes of tradition, control, and nourishment emerge in her work, exposing the contradictions of love, jealousy, and violence within intimate spaces. Her fascination with silence, visibility, and the supernatural manifests in her reinterpretation of jinns, seeing superstition not just as a tool of control but as a force for subversion, exposing hidden truths and the interplay between the seen and unseen.

Positioned at the intersection of memory, mythology, and the subconscious, Kaleem’s work presents a deeply introspective yet universally resonant exploration of identity and folklore, solidifying her as a compelling voice in contemporary printmaking and drawing.