1. What does black/pink say that other colours can't?
Sawan Taank: Black isn't a colour to me - it's time. The moment day turns to night, when memory and imagination take over. Pink is emotion - the quiet language of love and connection. Black holds silence; pink holds intimacy.**
Shazia Nabeel**: Pink carries romance and femininity. I grew up with a hot pink wall and wardrobe, so it's nostalgic, something familiar. Blush tones especially have a warmth that glows next to other colours.**
2. What's the best way to get up close with your work?
Sawan Taank: Come closer. From afar, my paintings look almost entirely black, but step in and the layers reveal themselves. People are the same, we judge from a distance instead of taking time to really see them.
Shazia Nabeel**: Getting close to my work is like going inward. My paintings are reflective, a little unresolved and that's deliberate. They leave room for introspection instead of spelling everything out.