For the young Omar Gilani, art was a distant dream. His elusive passion was always overshadowed by doubting words and his family’s hope for a ‘stable career’ and growing up in Peshawar, Pakistan—a future dedicated to the arts seemed impossible. For over a decade, he put his artistic pursuits aside and went on to attain a double Masters, one in Mechanical Engineering and one in Robotics but through all that hard work and eventual success the need to create never left him. It was the thought of his first inspiration – the late renowned painter Ismail Gulgee who had a similar story – that gave him the courage to step away from the field of engineering and devote himself wholeheartedly to his art.
Being self taught, his work has evolved through many phases and many mediums and today he’s working a lot in the field of graphic design. Digital illustration was the perfect canvas to fuse his capabilities in both art and technology and he loves to experiment and push the boundaries of both. This unique perspective is most actively displayed in his series Pakistan+, an imaginative look at the possibilities the future may bring. Visual science fiction at its best, Gilani’s Pakistan sees slums intertwined with skyscrapers and dhabas co-existing with dragons.
He views his process as slow and simmering, it begins with a simple mental visual which he develops at the back of his mind for hours, sometimes days before he begins working on it in earnest. His dream project would be to illustrate ‘The Adventures of Umro Ayaar and Amir Hamza’, the opportunity to incorporate the Persian style of art with the rich mystical piece of literature (which he describes as ‘the Tolkien universe on an Acid trip’) would be something he’d love to dedicate time to in the future.
His work is being admired across Pakistan and perhaps soon, it will take to the international stage. His photorealistic approach combined with a limitless scope of possibility results in art that captures both the mind and the heart, this amazing visual artist is definitely one to watch.
You can view his collected works here.