“What Will People Think?”
At Jutta Gallery May 23rd - 25th 2025
What Will People Think? is a group exhibition that brings together four artists—Simrah Farrukh, Christina Welzer, Areeba Afreen Qureshi, and Mengwen Cao—whose practices explore identity, cultural memory, and the complexities of visibility within diasporic and gendered experiences. Through photography, painting, sculpture, and mixed media, these artists challenge societal expectations and invite viewers to consider the nuanced narratives that shape individual and collective identities.
Featured Artists
Simrah Farrukh
An American-Pakistani photographer and cultural storyteller based in San Francisco, Simrah's work honors beauty, identity, belonging, and soul—with a deep reverence for womanhood and cultural expression. Working with light, she creates images with a painterly luminosity that bridges photographic documentation and fine art tradition. Her photography explores the intersections of lived experience and shared identity, often guided by moments of stillness, resilience, and transformation. At the heart, her work embraces softness not as fragility, but as power.
Christina Welzer
A Korean American artist, Christina's work is deeply influenced by her family's fragmented history of escape from both communist North Korea and the war-torn South. Supported by the Korean concept of Han (한)—the collective sorrow and rage embedded in Korean culture following Japanese occupation—her practice explores how women navigate the world with serene exteriors while concealing turbulent emotional landscapes beneath. Her delicate craftsmanship and focus on female perspectives reveal hidden narratives of rage, fear, and resilience.
Areeba Afreen Qureshi
An artist from Lahore, Pakistan, Areeba's journey in the world of art is marked by a dedication to exploring the human form. Working mainly in oils, her work is characterized by vivid colors and introspective themes, inviting viewers to delve into the complexities of the human experience. Her paintings often reflect on themes of identity, emotion, and the human condition.
Mengwen Cao
A queer photographer, artist, educator, and somatic coach born and raised in Hangzhou, China, Mengwen is based in New York. Weaving their embodied experience as a Chinese diasporic queer into their spiritual and creative practices, they use care and tenderness to explore in-between spaces. They see photography as a vehicle for healing and a tool to visualize the future, creating multimedia portals for personal and collective transformation.
