Thursday's Three on Art

For today's Thursday's Three, I offer a  trio of insightful artist interviews.

✭ The recipient of Pakistan's President's National Pride of Honor award (2005), Shahzia Sikander tells Newsweek Pakistan that her "choices in life do not fit into any stereotypes." Read "Pakistan's Most Successful Artist Is Barely Known in Her Own Country", in which Sikander talks the absence of exhibitions of her work in Pakistan, her identity, her latest work in animation, and her interest in the "idea of transformation".

Sikander's "Sinxay: Narrative as Dissolution #2" (2008) was part of "Beyond Belief: 100 Years of the Spiritual in Modern Art (Highlights from SFMoMA)", which concluded October 27 at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco.

✭ "Every human being is beautiful but what attracts me most is the hair", painter Saeed Akhtar, also of Pakistan, confides to Momina Sibtain of The Express Tribune. Read "Saeed Akhtar: When Art and Passion Collide" to learn what Akhtar has to say about the importance of "knowing the anatomy properly", making portraits, and sharing the creative process.

✭ Beginning with "no ideas", American painter Leslie Bell uses his canvas "as a screen on which I can imagine random images, stories, and compositions. I'm looking for a place to start . . . it's a process of call-and-response." In addition to describing his mark-making, Bell speaks with Painter's Bread about his artistic challenges and interests and about his long experience as an arts educator.