Being a young Muslim female growing up in South Africa I consider myself a hybrid of influences. On the one hand that of Indian cultured, and on the other a practicing Muslim. I am intrigued by origins and that of pattern as it holds great importance amongst Indian females.
Within my painting series I have used the mus’Allah (prayer mat) along with elements of confinement as a representation of personal spaces in the daily life of a Muslim female. Its variety of pattern, colour and shape holds content to its cultural and social heritage that has developed over time.
The fraying mus’Allah’s are created from, and sewed together on a silky fabric with connotations of temptation that are pushed beneath the surface in the form of paint and thread to create carpet like textures.
The idea of embodiment and constant usage is reinforced through the evanescence of the transparent fabric that can barely hold its material. In essence this object becomes a representation of the influences from which I draw my identity in embrace of the non-traditional verses that of the traditional .The medium in which these elements of confined spaces are represented is through painterly processes as a means of introducing the love for praying with that of something which is frowned upon, so that the two may provide a compromise. These symbolic objects are offered to the viewer as artworks so that they are freed from their religious and cultural geography.