Exhibited and collected
internationally
Art for who you are
Art for who you are
Contemporary Islamic art Inspired by faith
Contemporary Islamic art inspired by faith
The bestsellers
For the wall that tells people who you are the moment they walk in. Your faith. Your culture. Your identity. No explanation needed.
About Qiblah
The astrolabe was the instrument early Muslim scholars used to calculate the direction of prayer. Mariam al-Ijliya, a 10th-century artisan known as Al-Asturlabi, designed some of the most advanced astrolabes of her time.
Behind the Painting
Five times a day Muslims across the world turn to face the Kaabah. We are all so different, from so many places, speaking so many languages, and yet we all turn together. That is what this painting is about. Not the instrument itself, but what it was built to find.
How It Was Made
With acrylic paint I built up layers of carefully sculpted curves and circles in bright gold to represent the metalwork. Using gold paint in a bottle with a nozzle, I repeatedly wrote, in my own stylised calligraphy, La Ilaha Ilallah. I painted the background in deep teal, forest green and midnight blue, blended and broken so the colour shifts across the canvas, and this acts as the foundation on which I painted the astrolabe.
Salaam
Salaam
i
Upcoming Events
Sanctuary
May 29th, 30th, 31st
John Lewis, Whitecity, Westfield
Sanctuary is a collection of works exploring pilgrimage and the places where we find peace and solace.
The exhibition brings together familiar works alongside pieces never seen before, reflecting on the journeys we take and the spaces that hold us.
29 to 31 May at John Lewis White City Westfield Square, in collaboration with John Lewis and London Eid Fest. Original paintings, prints, greeting cards, and a coffee table book are all available to purchase. John Lewis and London Eid Fest customers receive a 20% discount.
I will be painting live across all three days, with all proceeds from the live painting going to a local community project.