When was the last time that a work of art held your attention so completely, everything else seemed to fall away? It happened to me recently, regarding a breathtaking miniature painting by the Brooklyn-based Pakistani artist Hiba Schahbaz.

In The Guard (2015-2025), a nude angel emerges from within the rose-colored walls of a building enveloped in diaphanous clouds and delicate blue dragons, some exhaling trails of gold pigment. Around her, a court of female guards—resplendent in meticulously rendered headpieces and shields—stands solemnly, inviting the viewer to surrender to its mesmerizing intricacy.

Hiba Schahbaz, The Guard , 2015-2025. Gouache, gold leaf and watercolor on wasli. 49 in. by 42 in. Courtesy of the artist

Growing up in Karachi, Schahbaz recalls hiding beneath her sh

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