BEYOND THE VISIBLE: A SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS OF SURFACE AND HIDDEN MEANINGS IN THE NCA THESIS EXHIBITION 2026

Abstract

This paper focuses on works of the NCA Thesis Exhibition 2026, discussing each one of them at two levels: what is visible and what is hidden. Visual art never lies on the surface; the visual qualities of colour, form, and composition are not merely aesthetic effects, but carriers of emotion, cultural memory, and symbolism. This paper adheres to the procedure of discussing how each artwork can tell you more than the picture itself, both in terms of personal identity and social experience and in terms of philosophy. Rather than viewing such works as whole objects, the paper views them as loci of meaning ; a brushstroke, a shape, a space composing in such a way that their meaning can be multifaceted and change depending on who is looking and where. Grounded in the semiotic theories of Saussure (1983), Barthes (1977), and Peirce (1958), and enriched by feminist and visual-culture frameworks from Pollock (1988), Butler (1990), Ahmed (2004), and Kress and van Leeuwen (2006), this paper reveals the layered communicative power of three artworks by emerging Pakistani women artists. It is not the desire to tell what is supposed to be so, but to show the interpretive possibilities that images could have, and how seemingly trivial images are full of meaning such that one feels like lingering in contemplation.