Mala Iqbal ’95

For Brooklyn-based artist Mala Iqbal ’95, art is a pure form of storytelling. Iqbal is a 2023 recipient of the Joan Mitchell Fellowship, an unrestricted grant of $60,000 distributed across five years given to 15 U.S.-based artists. She is using the grant to delve into a series of paintings and drawings that represent her recollections of family stories, exploring her multicultural upbringing through her art. She says that her works are often ambiguous pieces open to personal interpretation.

Growing up, Iqbal says she was a “slightly withdrawn, awkward kid” who loved reading and drawing. Now, her hometown of New York City is her muse, and she takes inspiration for her work from the people around her. “I’m one of those people on the subway and the bus who is always drawing my fellow New Yorkers,” she says.

Recipients of the fellowship also receive professional development and attend artist meet-ups that facilitate community building and peer learning. Iqbal has already attended a convening of Joan Mitchell Fellowship artists in New Orleans, with more meet-ups planned for the coming years.

Iqbal has also been hard at work creating a variety of works — including a 6 foot by 8 foot painting — for a solo show at the JJ Murphy Gallery on the Lower East Side, which opens in October. She likes to incorporate mythology or folklore references into her work, and looks forward to creating an “open-ended narrative” for her audience to interpret freely as she continues to explore new ways to tell her story.

— Anne-Ryan Sirju JRN’09