Noorain Inam Fans Flames and Fantasy at NADA Miami 2024

Noorain Inam‘s paintings depict surreal spaces where personal narratives intertwine with mythmaking. Brimming with whimsical characters and dreamlike details, each work—ranging from small to large in scale—reveals something new with every glance.

At NADA Miami (3–7 December 2024), Indigo+Madder showcased new paintings and sculptures by the London-based artist in the ‘Curated Spotlight’ section.

Shown in a solo presentation, Inam’s recent works combine the precision of miniature painting techniques with the energy of gestural expression. The imagined spaces that result from the artist’s distinct style offer an escape for storytelling—whether personal or symbolic.

In Galloping horses above my ceiling (2024), a tiny figure emerges from a portal at the top of the canvas, while mythical creatures, including a serpent and phoenix, frolic below. Bursts of flames, clouds, and stars appear in the lower quadrants, forming an ambivalent sky.

Flames are a recurring motif in Inam’s work, and feature prominently in the works displayed in Miami. Discussing these fiery elements with Ocula, Inam described them as ‘a metaphor for the slow and tentative process of discovering my own way of storytelling—a kind of silent rebirth’.

Inam, who trained as a miniature painter in her hometown of Karachi, Pakistan, and later earned an MFA in Painting at Slade School of Fine Art in London, is represented by Indigo+Madder, who held her first exhibition at the gallery in 2023. —[O]