Islamic art

ARTIST: SWADEKA AHSUN

I am pleased to present my Islamic Art Website

Islamic Art can mean different things to different people.

“To a Muslim, Islamic Art may be an expression of religion, of faith, read in the assured and stately progress of writing across a page or the real austerity of a Mosque. To a non-Muslim, it tends to evoke rich and mysterious decoration applied to objects which often have obviously practical purposes. To a tourist, it may first present itself in the form of distinctive shapes, the noble swelling of a dome hovering over the city skyline or the silhouette of a minaret against a sunset. For the Curators, Collectors, Specialists and Students, Islamic art is a world of irresistible fascination in which they strive for a better understanding of the objects, works and the people who made them. Islamic art also focusses on the spiritual representation of objects and beings, not in their material qualities”.

My Islamic artworks have been inspired by religion/Islam, its cultural heritage and its splendour, the glorious achievement of the renaissance and the symmetry of the Islamic architecture. Most of my artworks focusses on the spiritual representation pf objects and beings, not on their material qualities. I have chosen a few dimensional stylizations to represent my visions, I can look at the universe as if it were my canvas and interpret it the way I want. And playing with light and shadows is what I like best.

Given the supreme importance of the word as set in the Holy book, and its transmissions throughout the Islamic world, the traditional emphasis of the written word can serve to elevate Arabic Calligraphy into the pre-eminent form of artistic expression. Within the interaction of Western developments, I have tried to stimulate stylistic innovations. I use various types of Arabic Calligraphy. I use the qalam of the reed of the pen as well as ink and acrylic within the brush. The Arabic letterforms and calligraphy can be seen within various colours, plus its depth and movement in various assemblage of hand-made paper and canvasses.

I struggled to reach new frontiers of imagination, interpretation and therefore I felt that I could make a contribution to the wider world. My artworks and paintings are not about what it looks like but what it feels like. It is all to do with personal response, with connecting the mind to the heart. The scenes are impressive. The colours are warmth and soothing, tender and fresh- patches of clear and sparkling light in the darkness, between movement and standing still. My works often has a meditative and timeless quality. I have tried to react and reply to intellectual Islamic environment and thought. The painting, Art, Architecture and culture’ has three women in different of Muslim dress against a striking architectural background. The Andalusian women portray three women in long, graceful dresses, this painting reflects the high standard of culture during a period of Islam in Andalusia and the interaction of European and Islamic Culture. Another painting, ‘Muslim women gazing at the spiritual garden’ in which two women in black look onto a rectangle of massed foliage enclosed in bands of color, was mostly inspired by Paul Klee.

I have also an aspect of Western art as a source of inspiration, from the Renaissance to contemporary period. I am a regular gallery goer and would like to mention Picasso, Monet, Chagal, Vangoth, Claire, Turner, etc.

I obtained a (B.A) (hons) and M.A in Islamic studies in London. I also studied art on a post-graduate level at the distinguished Chelsea college of fine art. During the course of my studies, I have been greatly inspired by some great Muslim Philosophers such as Ibne Rush and Ibne Sina. I as well studied Plato and Aristotle. I have as well studied Arabic Calligraphy with a number of private teachers in London. I have studied traditional Islamic patterns with Professor Critchlow of the VITA department of Prince of Wales Institute of Islamic Architecture. Islam concentration on geometric patterns draws attention away from the representational world to one of pure forms, poised tensions and dynamic equilibrium, giving structural insight into the workings of inner self and the reflection in the universe. According to Professor Critwlow, Islamic art is predominatly a balance between pure geometric form and what can be called fundamental biomorphic form: a polarization that has associative values with four philosophical and experimental qualities of cold and dry, representing the crystallization in geometric form, hot and moist, representing the formative forces behind vegetative and vascular form