Zarina was born in 1937 in Aligarh, undivided India. Initially trained in mathematics at Aligarh Muslim University, from where she graduated in 1958, Zarina later started her formal training in printmaking at Atelier 17 in Paris under the mentorship of Stanley William Hayter in 1964. This was followed by a period studying traditional woodblock printing techniques at the Toshi Yoshida Studio in Tokyo in 1974.

Though rooted in printmaking, Zarina’s practice evolved to encompass drawing and sculpture, unified by a minimalist aesthetic and a deeply personal engagement with themes of home, exile, memory, and displacement. Influenced by her own nomadic life across continents and her enduring interest in architecture, geometry, and language, her work often reflects a poetic mapping of loss and longing. Paper became central to her artistic expression, serving as both medium and metaphor throughout her career.