Besides the saddening and distressing notoriety that Pakistan possesses in front of the world, there still occur some pleasant junctures that always thrive to bring a positive light to our country’s name. Every now and then we witness a particular achievement or a talented person from our country that helps us to hold our heads up high in the air. Summaiya Jillani is one of those achievements that we celebrated just a year ago. This young talent took the whole internet world by storm in only a matter of few hours, and set a new record for being an overnight famous artist, who was utterly anonymous to the world until she uploaded her work on Facebook.

Twenty five years old Summaiya completed her graduation from the Visual Arts Department of the University of Karachi. Born in the city of lights, this young star knew exactly how to install the bright lights into her paintings by given them the “desi/Karachite” touches. The reason behind her sudden success was of course the social media websites that multiplied the number of shares and likes into thousands right after Summaiya put her Desi Marilyn on her Facebook profile. The next morning did not just fetch interested clients for Summaiya, but also transformed her anonymity into popularity. The international media welcomed her with open arms, and it took only a while for her to become the talk of the towns.

The work that brought all the fame to Summaiya’s life was her Marilyn Monroe’s painting that she named as “Baar baar daikho, hazaar baar daikho”. She refurbished Monroe by toting up vibrant colors, swathed her in pretty Shalwar Kameez, sported a Paranda in her pretty blonde hair, and rocked her up with dazzling gold Jumkay (earrings). That was not it; she also transformed the surrounding of her subject into the colorful ethnicity of Pakistan. Her work screams the love she embraces for her city and her vivid culture, because she mastered to fuse the west incisively into desi mores.

Although Summaiya always aspired to become a sculpture, it was her friends and family who encouraged her and pointed out how good she is with paints. She was so amused by all the support that she stepped into the world of paints and brushes and kissed her goodbyes to statuettes and carvings. Pop Art culture is the core theme of her almost every piece, because she believes it not only allows her to pore her energetic thoughts into vigorous colors, but it also openly helps to comprehend every aspect of it. The colors in pop art also represent her predilection for the desi surroundings she brought up in. For her, knowledge of art is not entirely necessary for people of different age groups when they explore pop art, because it is obvious, simple, and easy to grasp on.

Local truck art, poetry written on the Rickshaws, and the lights of her city are what you can easily find in her paintings. Apart from her renounced Desi Marilyn, Summaiya also transformed Frida Kahlo and the ever famous band “The Beatles” into her signature pop colors by giving them the eastern ambiance. All of her paintings are displayed into various exhibitions and art galleries, including VM Art Gallery – the biggest art gallery of Karachi. Alexa Meade and Belinda Eaton are her inspiration and in her near future, she is pretty much excited to work on different international projects with the help of British Art Community.