The National Gallery has acquired three works by Zarina (active internationally, 1937–2020), one of the most celebrated South Asian artists of the past century. Although printmaking was her primary medium, her interest in materials extended to the inventive manipulation of paper alone, as well as projects in metal, terracotta, and stone. Ideas concerning displacement, mobility, loss, and memory are found throughout Zarina’s work, as she explored her rootless existence and the fraught politics of migration and cultural dominance in the various locations where she lived. These are the first works by Zarina to enter the National Gallery's collection and represent the range of her artistic practice.

The concept of home is a recurring theme in Zarina's work. One of her seminal print projects, Homes I Made / A Life in Nine Lines (1997) features various floor plans of the many places she resided over the course of her itinerant life. The linear structure of the compositions is offset by subtle ink washes and textural effects that hint at the presence of inhabitants of these dwellings, suggesting scuff marks on floors and other signs of wear. Corners (1980) is a superb example of Zarina's cast paper reliefs. Recalling the facade of a nondescript, brutalist style of urban apartment buildings with repeating rows of recessed rectilinear windows, this relief exemplifies both her minimalist sensibility as well as her interest in architecture. The empty, recessed areas of the relief may also be seen as an allusion to displacement. The prominent woodgrain pattern in the untitled print from 1968 demonstrates Zarina's love of the inherent textures of her materials, interest in neutral and natural color palettes, and alludes to the woodblock prints that first inspired her to take up printmaking.