How to Serve Cake:This Pakistani Artist Blends Food, Culture, and Scenic Realms

When I came across a painting of a mouth-watering cake on Instagram, set against a backdrop mirroring the Swiss Alps, I was delighted. The painting jolted me awake from my overconsumption of AI-images and gave me a healthy dopamine rush. The painting was part of Mussawir Contemporary’s recent group exhibition ‘Desire, Belief, and the Table’, which is near Alserkal Avenue. The painting was created by Pakistani visual artist Maryam Arslan, who has exhibited her artwork in local and international exhibitions.

Artwork About More Than Culinary Delights 

Through her artwork, Maryam Arslan explores identity, culture, consumption, and visual pleasure. At Mussawir Contemporary, her paintings feature a wide array of food, from greasy fries to a mouth-watering cupcake. “Food carries memory, comfort, aspiration, and performance all at once. I am especially drawn to desserts and elaborate arrangements because they exist somewhere between indulgence and nostalgia,” Arslan told UAE Moments.

At the art gallery in Alserkal, Maryam Arslan’s ‘The Geography of Joy Series no. 10’ and ‘Berrytale’ feature decadent cakes, against bright blue skies with fluffy clouds rolling over green hills lined with pine trees, which are reminiscent of Ghibli movies. “The scenic settings allow these objects to become slightly theatrical. I enjoy placing familiar culinary imagery within heightened or dreamlike environments, where intimacy and spectacle exist side by side,” the artist explained.

Maryam Arslan paints with oil and acrylic paints, creating bright, vivid images that seem to be scenes from fairy tales. “I use bright and saturated colours to construct spaces that feel immersive, heightened, and almost fantastical,” the artist shared when asked about her use of bright colors. Arslan likes to “use atmosphere, contrast, and heightened visual language to create emotionally charged spaces.”

When I came across Maryam Arslan’s artwork online, it mostly featured sweet delicacies, which left me wondering about the savory treats. “There is a strong sweet-tooth culture in Pakistan, and part of it is visual. Cakes and sweet delicacies already carry a sense of excess, decoration, and performance, even before they are translated into paint. That makes them particularly compelling for me to work with,” Arslan explained.

An artwork of Arslan’s that stood out to me was Sugar, Spice and Colonial Advice”. The painting features an appetizing breakfast spread, with Lahore’s famous Badshahi mosque in the background. When I asked Maryam about it, she said, “I was interested in treating architecture less as a monument and more as part of lived visual culture. Religious structures, particularly mosques, already exist deeply within our everyday environments, so I did not want the building to function as a distant or untouchable symbol. Instead, I wanted it to exist alongside ordinary rituals like eating, gathering, and consumption.”

Reforming Art Education in Pakistan

Arslan's own purpose as an artist is similar. “I am interested in shifting how art is perceived, particularly within environments where it is still treated as secondary or decorative rather than intellectually serious… I am particularly interested in working with younger students because I want to challenge the perception of art as merely an extra or non-serious subject before examination years, and instead position it as a meaningful way of thinking, observing, and understanding the world from an early age,” the creative shared.  

Alongside painting, Maryam Arslan teaches art, design, and media studies as visiting faculty at Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture. Arslan has also founded The Curiosity Lab, which is a platform that promotes art education that is exploratory and concept-driven.

Her motivation to develop this platform came from teaching at the school and university levels; she helped develop the curriculum for digital arts for middle school students with Zindagi Trust, and she has collaborated with Aga Khan University at SIMPACT 2025 to run a workshop about using painting to explore empathy and teamwork within medical education. “I realised that students often become afraid of experimentation because creativity is treated as secondary to outcomes. I wanted to build a space where curiosity, material exploration, and critical thinking could exist alongside structure and seriousness,” the artist explained.

The Pakistani artist wants to shift fine arts education in Pakistan from simple theory to critical thinking and experimentation. “In a time increasingly shaped by AI, where images can be generated instantly but not always meaningfully understood, visual literacy becomes urgent: students need to know how to read, question, and construct images with intention,” Arslan said.

When asked what advice she would give to upcoming artists, she said, “Persistence is everything! Building a meaningful practice takes time, discipline, and patience with uncertainty. I’ve always focused on my own journey rather than comparing it to others, staying consistent with my practice and trusting its pace.”

Maryam Arslan is working towards creating more art that explores food imagery, architecture, and emotional landscapes. She is also developing The Curiosity Lab alongside her visiting faculty duties at IVSAA. In a world of endless doomscrolling, Arslan's artwork provides a fantastical and thought-provoking escape.