Aziza Iqbal

Influenced by tradition and channeling the contemporary, Aziza Iqbal is an Indian visual artist and pattern specialist based in Qatar.

A former student of the London-based Art of Islamic Pattern institute, her work is explicitly based on the harmony and symbolism in Islamic arts and crafts. Geometry features prominently in her print and painting series, in both digital and traditional media.

Inspired by her own roots, Aziza’s special focus is on Mughal art and architecture of the Indian Subcontinent; a distinctive blend of the Persian artistic influence with indigenous Indian techniques and motifs. One of her keen interests is the geometry of perforated lattice screens, known as the ‘jaali’, featured widely and creatively in Mughal buildings.

A Light Within I and II 2018

Aziza Iqbal

Hand-cut mirrors and Teakwood

Islamic art perfectly encapsulates the paradoxical nature of Duality: revealed and secret, simple and complex, process and result, introspection with revelation. This duality is also illustrated in two of Allāh’s 99 Names, Al Bātin, The Hidden and Az-Zāhir, The Manifest.

The title references a beautiful parable in the Holy Qur'ān, from Sūrah an-Noor, verse 35, which speaks of Spiritual Light, and of which Allāh is the Supreme Source. Inspired by this metaphor of sparkling glass and inner light, Aziza combines her love of architecture, mosaics and mirrors, with the duality of reflections and shadows.

With support from craftsmen Prasad Mhatre and Akbar Ali

The Artists