Hyderabad artist Tarab blends myth and memory

An MA in Economics, Tarab is also an accomplished author. Her debut novel, Dancing with the Clouds, published by Bloomsbury, combines literary prose with fine art illustrations

Venkat Parsa

Metro India News | NEW DELHI 

Step into the art gallery and the familiar gives way to the imagined. In her latest exhibition, Hyderabad-based contemporary artist, author and storyteller Tarab Khan invites viewers into a world where memory, myth and dreams merge, and where every canvas unfolds as a quiet journey of introspection.

In Urdu, Tasawwur means imagination or the act of forming an image in the mind's eye. Through vivid colours, layered textures and symbolic narratives, Tarab transforms this abstract idea into immersive visual experiences whose practice bridges magical realism with psychological allegory. Her paintings often feature the majestic Black Panther -- not merely as an animal, but as a symbol of resilience, quiet power, grace and fragile human relationship with the natural world. Tarab succeeds in giving this elusive concept form and content through her paintings.

Tarab Khan told Metro India, “Painting, for me, is less about depicting the visible world and more about discovering the invisible one.” Tarab believes art is the process of breathing life into an interior universe.

Working across oil, acrylic, ink, layered mixed media and dimensional paper-cut art, Tarab creates textured visual worlds where dreams, memory and myth coexist. Through vibrant colours and symbolic narratives, her paintings invite viewers to slow down, reflect and uncover meaning layer by layer.

The exhibition marks her fourth major presentation in the national capital and showcases a new series exploring wild cats as metaphors for inner strength, mystery and transformation.

An MA in Economics, Tarab is also an accomplished author. Her debut novel, Dancing with the Clouds, published by Bloomsbury, combines literary prose with fine art illustrations. She has written content for Penguin Random House India, illustrated books for Juggernaut Books and has more titles in the pipeline. She also speaks at art, literary and cultural forums on the intersection of visual arts and cognitive storytelling.

Inspired since childhood by oceanic horizons, folklore and the dualities of human life, Tarab rejects literal representation in favour of emotional re-enactment. Each canvas, she says, is an open-ended narrative inviting viewers beyond the rational world into a realm of introspection, memory and wonder.

The exhibition is open to the public until July 7, 2026, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.