It's difficult juggling motherhood and work, so Fadilah Karim decided to combine the two life duties, showing her cute daughter Aira, then two, as a muse and lightning rod in her painting studio. Aira was at an age when she was full of curiosity and mischief. She was focusing on a pair of binoculars instead of her mother, the fulltime artist garbed in corduroy pinafore pants, back turned to viewer. Both were barefooted, and there was an air of mystery, too, as neither showed their face in full. Though both were distracted, the bond and love are most palpable, what more the humour is also not lost. This can be inspiring to new mothers, who find themselves like a Superwoman, taking the roles of wife and home-maker, mother, daughter, in-law. Previous mother-artists lamented how they had to keep their easel in the storeroom as they lavished all their love exclusively on raising children. Fadilah Karim made heads turn when she was given a rare mini-survey exhibition by Segaris Art Centre, at White Box at Publika, Kuala Lumpur, in 2020. Called A Decade 2010-2020, it was also a preliminary retrospective with several works on show borrowed from her legion of well-known collectors. She was only 33 then! She graduated with a Diploma in Fine Art (2006), then her BFA (2010) and MFA (2013). Her slew of prizes started in 2007: 1st Prize, Malacca TYT Action Portrait and 2nd Prize in the Tanjung Heritage competition (3rd Prize in 2009). Other awards included the Incentive Award (Shah Alam Open) and HOM Art Trans Young Guns Award. Her selection for the Art Stage Singapore (2015, 2016), Art Taipei (2015), Art Gwangju (2015), Art Bazaar Berlin (2014), Art Basel Hong Kong (2017), and Art Expo Malaysia (2013-2015) helped boost her international stature. For two months in 2010, she was mentored by the ‘Pertarungan' icon Amron Omar. Her solos were Vague; Secret Lies and Folds & Creases, her first Singapore foray, at Gajah Gallery no less.