Hi there! My name is Dr. Elsa Talat Khwaja. I am a social scientist, international development consultant, research scholar, writer, and artist. You can learn more about my academic and professional background here.
The Story Behind Painting Heals
I would like to share my motivations for creating this fundraiser for art, healing, education, and advocacy. I launched this initiative at the end of 2022, in the aftermath of the historic and catastrophic Pakistan floods. With a strong connection to the story of Pakistan, I had been exploring diverse ways to learn and bridge understanding to my parents’ homeland. You can learn more about that auction HERE.
Painting Heals was conceptualized as a personal healing practice during one of the most challenging periods of my life. It was a time when art became my way to process grief, anxiety, and a sense of invisibility. What started as a form of therapy has now grown into a movement: a space where art, advocacy, and scholarship can meet.
I often advise students, while immersed in their studies, to pick up a non-academic hobby. Something that could let the mind breathe. For me, during my doctorate, that “non-academic hobby” became painting. What began as a childhood passion I had long ignored slowly became a lifeline during the grueling years of my PhD. In the middle of my PhD program, I decided to explore and harness the passion. Painting helped me manage the stress of a daunting academic journey and offered something precious: a “finished product.” That feeling, completing something beautiful and tangible outside of the endless demands of academic writing, became a necessary reminder that I was capable of finishing even the largest and most intimidating tasks, like my dissertation.
An Evolution in Color
Each painting represents an emotion, a moment, or a lesson, emulating an “evolutionary process,” involving the need for patience, persistence, courage, tenacity, and resilience. My earlier pieces may show less refined technique, but that is part of their story. They reflect growth, transformation, and change. What you may see here is not just art but a timeline of my evolution as an artist, scholar, and human being.
Connecting Art, Research, and Advocacy
Many of the pieces in my Rise Beyond the Margins fundraiser and the Pakistan Floods auction were created during my PhD research on Pakistan. During my fieldwork there, I began to notice how many of my research participants, whether development practitioners, aid workers, village leaders, scholars, journalists, or policymakers, were also artists, writers, poets, and architects. That realization felt like a “connect-the-dots” moment, revealing how creativity, identity, and resilience are intertwined.
Over time, Painting Heals has grown into something beyond myself. I would honor critical causes and significant moments. It became a platform where my art could help raise funds and awareness for humanitarian and social justice causes I care about, including (but not limited to):
• Climate change philanthropy and recovery efforts, such as the 2022 Pakistan Floods fundraiser
• Mental health awareness and suicide prevention, through DC Community Walks with AFSP
• Support for Mental Health for Palestinian Children, including the UNRWA Gaza DC 5K
And now a space to support equity, inclusion, diversity, justice, accessibility, and belonging (EIDJAB), and amplify marginalized, underrepresented voices in academia and beyond.
A Vision for the Future
I believe in the power of art not only to heal but also to promote awareness and dialogue and create change. My hope is that Painting Heals continues to grow as a platform for humanitarian, climate change philanthropy, and social justice causes, while remaining a personal space for reflection and resilience.
My paintings have been a profound source of healing for me, and I hope they serve, in some way, to heal others too.
Thank you for believing in the transformative power of art. This journey is just beginning, and I am excited to keep sharing it with you!
Thank you for visiting “Painting Heals!”
I appreciate your support for my Educational Crowdfunding Campaign!
If you support my independent writing, art, and scholarship, you are also welcome to Buy Me a Coffee Here. Thank you!
You can learn more about Dr. Khwaja’s professional and academic background here: www.elsatkhwaja.com
For 7 months, within 2 years (2017-2019), I had the beautiful opportunity to conduct doctoral-level fieldwork in Pakistan, I took over 35,000 photos in my travels around the country. All photos from Pakistan featured on this website are captured from travels in Pakistan. Below you will see a small collection of those photos from the most memorable moments of my life (a few from my Masters Fieldwork as well in 2008).
(Please note: I will be adding more to this gallery on an ongoing basis – and also replace some pictures that appear in lower resolution):