A dental graduate from Fatima Jinnah Dental College (FJDC), Dr Kishwer Naz may not have had any formal training but then again, she didn’t have to. She is one of the artist making wave in the dental community with her art work. This ‘insta- twitter age’ artist, has managed to gain attention with her sketches including big names. She is all about conveying emotions and there’s certainly no better way than to communicate through art.
By Dr Muattar Hanif
Working as a Senior Registrar Department of Operative Dentistry, Fatima Jinnah Dental College, and taking time out for her creativity, is perfect example of “Dentisty and Beyond.”
Dr Naz’s love for art goes way back to her early childhood. The coloring books and paint boxes have always been a fascination to her. Reminiscing her playful days, Dr Kishwer said, “I was practically obsessed with any coloring book that came my way. They amused and amazed me at such a young age. I also remember noticing every painting, wall hanging, graffiti on walls wherever I went when as a child and always use to think, can I do this too?”
The passion to create her own gem of art work, was not something that happened overnight. Kishwer’s calling towards sketching was always there. “Art always attracted me and consumed most of my interest as a child but I never thought I would be able to create that until my early teens. I started with stick figures and cartoonic drawings of my own imagination! I tried using those water paint sets every kid had back in school to copy famous landscape paintings,” She recalled.
Kishwer’s artwork has definitely gained attention from renowned celebrities. These included Pakistan’s sensational artist Fawad Khan, who shared her art on his Instagram profile and popular singer Ali Zafar, who retweeted her sketch on his twitter handle.
Being in dental school didn’t stop Dr Kishwer to sketch interesting pieces. She continued to vent her talent by making intricate anatomy journals. “I have a lot of medical and dental related artwork in the form of my Anatomy journal from my first year of dental school, in which I spent hours and hours drawing all views of the human skull, the cranial cavity which houses our brain, upper and lower jaws, blood vessels and nerves that course through our head and neck,” Dr Naz shared.
“My style I would say is as close to reality as possible, I never experimented with cartoonic or comic related art work. I also make custom sketches for friends and family like portraits of family members,” Naz told.
The career choice of being a dentist seemed a little unconventional for art loving Kishwer, but she sees parallelism between two paths. “I 100% believe that all dentists are artists! Especially those who continue dentistry as clinical practice. We deal with millimeters, literally! Whichever clinical specialization you belong to, it all requires work inside the oral cavity, which is a very small area to operate in. Precision of hand movements, control on hand movements, imagination of the procedure outcome, shade matching, re-creating dental anatomy, clean surgical incisions and sutures, parallel cavity walls, smooth crown margins, tapering root canals, drilling implants and so much more, it’s all art!”
Dr Kishwer’s obsession with details, has helped her art to grow. Sharing her secret of perfection, Kishwer said, “To never stop being creative, to never dull down your imagination and to always keep practicing your skills. Practice makes perfect, and that requires tremendous amount of patience and the ability to take criticism positively. That no matter where you stand today, hard work and consistent efforts will be fruitful one day!”
The skill of managing time between passion and career has been Dr Kishwer’s forte. As a newly qualified MCPS (Member of College of Physicians and Surgeons) Post Graduate trainee in Operative Dentistry, Kishwer thinks of art as a source of tranquility in her life. Though the process of creating artwork seems tedious for one, but Kishwer simply denies. “I, and many other artists have learned how much therapeutic and healthy art is, any style or genre of art, be it sketching, painting, digital creations, handcrafts, creating art content for the web in the form of pictorials or videos. It’s the most harmless and beautiful outlet for energy stored up inside you, both good and bad. Art has taught me to be supportive, positive, patient and creative.”
Dr Kishwer is also working as a restorative specialist at Dr Irfan Qureshi's Team of Professionals. She urged the dental students to never give up on their dreams, regardless of one’s professional choices. She said, “One major message, Never Stop Creating, never leave your skills and creativity behind to rust. It gets difficult to keep up with art amongst all dental education and dental career, but you have to take out time for it. If life gives you a chance, work towards making a career out of whatever art you do!”
Dr Kishwer is ready to take her artwork display to the next level and has already made plans for the future too. “Recently, after post-graduation, I have been unable to keep up with art as a career for a few months, but I do have a few orders lined up which I am very much excited to start soon!” Kishwer told.
Dr Muattar Hanif
The author is Editor at Dental News Pakistan and can be reached at newsdesk@medicalnewsgroup.com.pk
