KARACHI: On the walls of Maryam Ali’s studio in Karachi hang intricate sketches of the holy Ka’aba, a lion’s fierce expression, and jagged mountain peaks under a clear, blue sky. At 38, Ali has built a name for herself in the city’s art scene, with her drawings featured in exhibitions at leading galleries and the National Museum of Pakistan. 

Ali also lives with Retinitis Pigmentosa, a rare genetic condition that causes progressive vision loss, but her art continues to draw admiration from both peers and senior artists.

According to the US-based National Eye Institute, RP is a genetic disease that people are born with. Symptoms usually start in childhood, and most people eventually lose most of their sight.

Diagnosed with the disease when she was just two, Ali discovered her passion for art as a child. She studied at a mainstream school and completed her matriculation and intermediate qualifications before tying the knot. Her vision, which has been deteriorating since birth, worsened sharply after she turned 30.

However, that didn’t dim her passion for drawing and painting. Ali honed her artistic skills by becoming the first visually impaired student to complete a diploma from the prestigious Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture in Karachi in 2022. Her husband’s support helped along the way.

“I call myself a unique artist because I suffer from a very rare eye disease,” Ali told Arab News. “It is an eye condition in which your cells die and you get difficulty in seeing things.

“So, you have night blindness in it, you have blurry vision, and you have tunnel vision,” Ali explained.

Ali said at night, she becomes “totally blind” and cannot even move without her family’s help. The visually impaired artist estimates she has only 30 percent of her vision left.

Hence unlike other artists, she cannot draw from imagination.

“In my case, I can only paint through pictures,” Ali explained. “Only those pictures which my eyes focus and they can draw it.”

She began her professional career in 2022, using pencils, charcoal, and acrylics to draw. Prolific sculptor Mansoor Zuberi saw her work at an exhibition in Oct. 2024 and has since helped Ali with shows and exhibitions.

Her drawings were featured in a recent Independence Day exhibition at the National Museum of Pakistan. Before her work garnered recognition, Ali said she never admired her craft.

“Because for me, whatever I’m painting, that’s my vision, what I’m seeing,” she said. “So, for me, it was very beautiful and to its fullest. But I valued my work more when the normal artists and senior artists appreciated my work.”

Shahid Rassam, a Pakistani Canadian painter who is the principal of the Arts Council Institute of Arts & Crafts in Karachi, is impressed with Ali’s talent. 

“When I saw Maryam’s work, I realized that not only is she a tremendous talent, but she has not allowed her disability to become a handicap,” Rassam told Arab News.

“She is fighting, and she has transformed all the catharsis within her into art, which is appreciable.”

‘NO COMPLETE CURE’

But even as she soldiers on with her passion, Ali is constantly on the lookout for medical treatment, knowing fully well RP isn’t curable.

“It’s treatable, not curable, and even that is extremely expensive,” she said. “So, I’m looking forward to exploring those, but only once I have enough funds.”

Dr. Haroon Tayyab, an ophthalmologist serving at the Aga Khan University, agreed that there is “no complete cure” for RP. However, he said certain treatments can help slow the disease or manage its effects in some people.

For example, Tayyab said gene therapy for specific mutations, retinal implants, and emerging stem cell or drug-based therapies.

“Beyond the physical limitations, RP also carries an emotional and psychological burden,” Dr. Tayyab noted. “Adjusting to changes in vision, maintaining independence, and coping with uncertainty about the future can be overwhelming at times.”

But RP doesn’t faze the visually impaired artist one bit.

“If I, as an impaired person, can work as well with my disease and come in front of the world and do whatever I have the talent in me, [if[ I can face the difficulties with ease,” she said.

“So why can’t other people do it?”