She calls her unique creative form digital crystals.
Internationally acclaimed Pakistani artist Sara Shakeel recently held a solo exhibition in Lahore, showcasing 25 of her signature crystal artworks.
The exhibition, titled ‘You Can See Through Me,’ was held at Remix Café in Gulberg and drew considerable attention from art lovers.
Sara Shakeel has built a globally recognised artistic identity through her maximalist use of crystals, gemstones and sparkles in her artworks.
She calls her unique creative form digital crystals, a style that has taken her work to galleries and platforms across multiple countries worldwide.
The Lahore exhibition brought together X-rays, glitter and gemstones to explore some of the most deeply personal and universal human themes imaginable.
The title ‘You Can See Through Me’ hinted at the exhibition’s focus on the artist’s own inner self, philosophy and deeply held beliefs.
Among the themes explored across the 25 artworks were love, feminism, beauty and spirituality, each rendered through Sara’s unmistakable gemstone-studded visual language.
One artwork featured two human figures embracing each other, almost kissing, with crystals in shades of pink, green, blue, amber, purple and gold.
The X-ray-style image adorned with colourful gemstones signified inner human beauty and intimacy while simultaneously inviting deeper interpretations.
Another work depicted a couple embracing, again featuring abundant crystals and gemstones, celebrating the beauty of love and human connection.
The skeletal quality of the image broadened the work’s message, making it open to interpretation beyond the boundaries of gender, age and ethnicity.
Feminism emerged as one of the most prominent and recurring themes running through the exhibition’s carefully curated collection of works.
One striking artwork featured a middle finger directed at the world, capturing the rebellious spirit at the heart of much of Sara’s creative output.
The addition of gemstones, crystals and jewellery to that image softened the aggression of the gesture while simultaneously adding beauty and complexity.
Themes of feminism extended across multiple other works in the exhibition, including a powerful piece exploring motherhood and pregnancy.
That work used crystals and gemstones to symbolise the continuity of human life and the profound beauty of motherhood.
Female skeletal figures appeared in another black and white artwork, though in this piece crystals were replaced entirely by delicate flowers as the embellishing element.
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A group of women in one work represented themes of sisterhood while simultaneously celebrating the preservation of each woman’s distinct and irreducible self.
Yet another piece took viewers back to motherhood, depicting babies in the womb alongside flowers within a female body.
A stiletto appeared in another work as a deliberate symbol of female power, assertiveness and the complex beauty of femininity.
Spirituality also featured as a recurring theme in the exhibition, explored through Sara’s signature style.
Works with dark black backgrounds allowed the light of crystals and gemstones to take centre stage, sharpening the spiritual messages.
Other artworks featured human body parts including hands, feet and a skull, all transformed into something dazzling through the crystals.
The use of faceless and skeletal X-ray imagery throughout the exhibition gives Sara’s art a universal quality that transcends race, ethnicity and nationality.
Sara Shakeel is now based in London and interestingly began her career pursuing dentistry before her art found an audience on Instagram.
Her crystal and sparkle artworks gained widespread attention on social media, eventually opening doors that redirected her life toward a full-time artistic career.
She is now internationally recognised and affectionately referred to as the Queen of Crystals or crystal artist within the global creative community.
