Rehana Mangi (b. 1986, Larkana, Sindh) lives and works in Karachi, Pakistan.
Rehana Mangi’s miniature works involve drawing, painting, collage, needlework, embroidery and most intriguingly, human hair. Her practice is notable for the high level of intricacy which also involves cross-stitch.
Regarding her work exhibited at LB01, the artist states, “this body of work initially started as a response to certain difficult personal circumstances. I had the habit, inherited from my grandmother, of unconsciously collecting my fallen hair. I used to spend a lot of time drawing these collected bunches of fallen hair, during my years as a student at National College of Arts, Lahore. Simultaneously, I started drawing minute grids on wasli paper, which became a therapeutic and a meditative process for me at the time. Subsequently, drawing upon my childhood experiences of learning the craft of cross-stitch in my village, I started stitching on this wasli paper with the collected hair.”
Mangi studied miniature painting at the National College of Arts in Lahore and graduated in 2007 (with Distinction). She has a Masters in Art and Design from Beaconhouse National University. Her works are included in numerous international collections