Nasreen Mohsin: Biography

Born in Srinagar, Kashmir, Nasreen Mohsin is a pioneering contemporary printmaker and visual artist who has profoundly shaped the region’s modern art landscape. Her academic journey began at the Institute of Music and Fine Arts, Jammu, followed by a Master of Fine Arts in Graphics (Printmaking) from the prestigious M.S. University, Baroda. Since her debut in 1982, Mohsin’s evocative works have been featured in numerous national and international exhibitions, earning her critical acclaim and prestigious honors, including recognition from the Bombay Art Society and the J&K State Academy.

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Early Life

Born in Srinagar’s Zadibal, Nasreen Mohsin’s early life did not unfold entirely in the city that would later become the central presence in her work. During her childhood, her parents moved to Jammu for business reasons, and it was there that she completed her schooling.

She was raised in surroundings where art was neither rare nor ornamental. On both sides of her family, artists, artisans, intellectuals, and individuals closely connected to creative practices formed the fabric of her upbringing.

She often credits much of her early inclination toward art to Mr. Hassan Gayoor , a relative connected to her through both her paternal and maternal family lines. His presence and encouragement left a lasting impression, helping shape her early engagement with creative expression at a time when influence matters most.

In such an environment, choosing art was not a rebellion against expectation, nor was it an act of defiance. It was a continuation. What would later distinguish her was not the decision to pursue art, but the seriousness with which she chose to live with it.

Voice Before Image: Radio, Short Stories, and Rhythm

During her school years in Jammu, Nasreen Mohsin found an early outlet in radio broadcasting. Under the guidance of Mehkash Kashmiri, she wrote and presented short stories for radio, learning to work with language as something heard rather than seen. In that space, meaning depended as much on silence as on speech. Pause, timing, and rhythm were not ornamental; they were structural.

It was her earliest direct encounter with disciplined artistic practice; one that demanded attentiveness, clarity, and responsibility toward expression.

Finding Printmaking at Jammu University

Nasreen Mohsin’s formal artistic training began at Jammu University, where she enrolled in the Bachelor of Fine Arts program. It was here that she encountered printmaking for the first time; a medium that stood apart for its rigor and resistance to ease. Slow, technical, and unforgiving, printmaking demanded patience and precision, offering little room for spontaneity without consequence.

While others gravitated toward more immediate forms of expression, she found herself drawn to the discipline of printmaking’s layered processes. Working with etching plates, preparing grounds, biting the surface with acid, and pulling proofs demanded an acceptance of delay and irreversibility. Techniques such as viscosity printing, where ink density and roller pressure determine tonal variation, required foresight rather than impulse. Each stage built upon the last, leaving little room for correction once a decision was made.
Her early experiments in the medium revealed a growing confidence and clarity of purpose. She later send those works for an exhibition in Chandigarh, where they received notable appreciation. The response was neither incidental nor merely encouraging; it marked an early affirmation of her direction and strengthened her resolve to commit to printmaking as a serious practice.

Mentorship: Gokul Kishan Dembi’s Quiet Presence

At Jammu University, Nasreen Mohsin studied under Gokul Kishan Dembi, who became far more than a mentor. His role in her life was deeply personal; closer to that of a father figure than a formal teacher. He guided without control, corrected without discouragement, and offered reassurance during moments of doubt.

His influence lay not in instruction alone, but in the values he embodied: patience, integrity, and quiet confidence in her abilities. He allowed her to find her own voice while standing firmly beside her, a presence she could rely on without question.

Even today, she speaks of him with reverence and gratitude; not as someone from her past, but as a lasting moral anchor whose impact continues to shape both her work and her life.

Baroda: Between Real and Abstract

Although Nasreen Mohsin had initially aspired to study at Shantiniketan, circumstance redirected her path when she received a scholarship to pursue her master’s degree in printmaking at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. The move marked a decisive shift; both geographically and intellectually.

Baroda exposed her to a wider, more rigorous artistic climate. The coexistence of contrasting approaches shaped her deeply. From Anupam Sood, she encountered a commitment to realism; where form, observation, and human presence were treated with restraint and seriousness. From Krishna Reddy, she absorbed the possibilities of abstraction, especially through layered surfaces and experimental print processes that emphasized structure, texture, and tonal depth over direct representation.

Rather than choosing between these extremes, she learned to inhabit the space between them. Her work began to balance recognisable form with suggestion, narrative with silence. This period refined her visual vocabulary, giving her the confidence to let images remain unresolved, and meanings unfold slowly

Choosing Alignment Over Security

After completing her bachelor’s degree, Nasreen Mohsin worked briefly at several institutions, including the medical college in Srinagar. The work offered stability and predictability, but it did not engage her artistic resolve. When the opportunity to pursue advanced studies in Baroda presented itself, she chose departure without hesitation.

For her, security was never a sufficient reason to stay. Creative alignment; being where her work could grow honestly—mattered more than institutional comfort. That decision would quietly define many others that followed.

A Shared Life, Quietly Held

Soon after completing Masters, during the time she was organizing her exhibition at the Broadway Hotel in Srinagar, Nasreen met Faiyaz Dilbar through a common friend. It was an unplanned meeting, one she would later remember as among the most meaningful moments of her life.
What followed was a companionship built with patience and resolve. They chose each other despite the resistance they faced, navigating every challenge with quiet determination. Their union was not loud or defiant, but it carried its own quiet form of courage.
Faiyaz Dilbar remained a steady presence in her life until his passing in November 2025. His memory stays with her; not as a public chapter, but as something deeply personal, held with dignity and affection, much like the rest of her life’s choices.

Kashmir as Condition, Not Theme

Kashmir does not appear in Nasreen Mohsin’s work as a subject to be displayed; it exists as a condition she inhabits. It runs beneath the surface of her practice; quiet, persistent, shaping the way she sees and records the world. Her relationship with Kashmir is not illustrative or nostalgic. It is lived.

In series such as “Through My Window”, landscapes and interiors are rendered as if witnessed rather than arranged. The viewer is placed at a distance that feels intentional; looking out, looking in, but never intruding. These works carry the weight of stillness, of time passing slowly, of observation becoming a form of belonging

Autumn appears often in her work, not as a season to be shown, but as a mood to be felt. The gentle light, fading leaves, and calm colours mirror a way of seeing—patient, reflective, and aware of change. In her prints, Kashmir is not explained or described. It is sensed, lived with, and left open for the viewer to sit with.

Teaching, Time, and Completion

Her professional path eventually took her to Noida, where she joined Apeejay School as Head of the Department of Visual Arts and retired in 2025. The years spent there were steady and demanding, marked by responsibility as much as routine.
For Nasreen Mohsin, teaching was never separate from her own practice. It was another way of staying engaged with the fundamentals: process, patience, and discipline. Guiding students, watching them struggle and arrive at their own understanding, deepened her belief in slow learning and honest work. Teaching became a shared space of making, thinking, and passing on values that could not be rushed

A Parting Thought

When she speaks to younger artists, Nasreen Mohsin offers no formulas. Her advice is simple and uncompromising: be fierce in your commitment, work with your heart, and remain sincere in whatever path you choose. She believes that honesty in effort matters more than recognition, and patience more than speed.

Her work does not seek attention. It waits; steady and unhurried; much like a window opening onto Kashmir in autumn, where light enters softly and stays just long enough to be remembered.

In her quieter moments, Nasreen Mohsin remembers Faiyaz Dilbar as someone deeply grounded, gentle in presence, and unwavering in support. He carried a natural warmth towards the younger generation, encouraging without imposing, listening more than speaking. His companionship was steady, never demanding the foreground, yet always felt.

Since his passing, a silence remains; one that cannot be filled, only lived with. Perhaps this is why autumn holds such meaning for her. Both she and Faiyaz were drawn to the season, to its softened light and honest stillness. In that fading warmth, her work continues to wait; carrying memory, loss, and love with quiet dignity, like autumn itself, arriving without announcement and staying just long enough to be felt

Memorable Moments