Siddiqa Juma

Starting her career in graphic design, Siddiqa Jumma has gone on to write, illustrate and produce Islamic children’s books and produce a slate of animated series that teach a particularly Muslim morality. It is in painting however, where Siddiqa has found the conduit for her devotion. It is not just the content and subject matter of Siddiqa’s work that reveals her beliefs: the processes by which her work is created have as much to tell. Siddiqa describes the process of painstakingly covering a canvas with God’s name as her personal tasbih, or incantation. The development of Siddiqa’s faith is also evident in the development of her work. As her style has evolved, she has found herself fixated on Hajj, the pilgrimage that every Muslim endeavours to perform at least once in their lifetime. Siddiqa has not yet made this journey herself, and so her work communicates not the experience of pilgrimage or the process of performing the Hajj, but a yearning to embark on that journey, with all the elements on every canvas gravitating irresistibly towards the holy city. This desire has given her work a new focus, moving her away from imitation of classic Islamic art and towards a more personal style, one which communicates all at once the nearness and the distance between Siddiqa and her faith.