Nasir “Nas” Hussain · Artist & founder
Making room
for something more.
Nasir “Nas” Hussain · Founder of Matter & Medium
Hi, I’m Nas.
I’m a lawyer, a husband, a dad to two daughters, and a painter. That last part is the newest.
I began painting in 2025, during a career transition after nearly a decade at a law firm. Leaving made me think about how much of my identity I had built around my work, and what else I wanted to give my time to. I still cared deeply about being a good lawyer. I also wanted to explore parts of myself that I hadn’t given much attention.
Painting was one of them. I picked it up without knowing where it would lead. What began as a way to try something different became something I wanted to keep coming back to.
Finding my way
One layer
leads to another.
I work primarily with acrylics on canvas and wood, building up color and texture and seeing where they take me. A painting can change quite a bit along the way. I’ll add something, reconsider it, paint over it, and sometimes find that a trace of an earlier version is what makes the whole thing work.
That process has become a big part of why I paint. I get to make a decision without having every next step worked out. I’m learning when to keep going, when to leave something alone, and when to trust what I like—even if someone else would have chosen differently.
You’ll see that range in the work. Some paintings are full of movement and competing colors. Others are quieter, with small shifts that take longer to notice. Texture and layers keep drawing me back; I like that a painting can give you a different experience up close than it does from across a room.
Making things together
Part of our life.
My wife, Zareen, and our daughters, Zaina and Alayna, are at the center of my life. One of my favorite parts of painting has been sharing it with Zaina. We’ve made paintings together, and I love that we can both bring our ideas to the same canvas. Those pieces hold the memory of time spent together, alongside all the color and movement.
Matter & Medium
What matters.
What I make.
The name brings together the matters I work on as a lawyer, the materials I paint with, and the question that helped start all of this: what matters to me, and how do I make room for it?
These paintings carry something of my life, but I’m curious about what you’ll see in them. It might be a feeling you recognize, a detail that keeps catching your eye, or a combination of colors you’d enjoy living with. I love the thought of something I’ve made becoming a familiar part of someone else’s home.
Thanks for spending some time with my work. I’m glad you’re here.
Explore the paintings