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القائمة الرئيسية
Najah is a self-taught multidisciplinary artist, scientist and medical professional based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She combines her background in medicine and science with her passion for illustration, creating unique and impactful artworks.
As a freelance illustrator, Najah’s work includes commissioned projects for the Musawah Artists Collective, scientific illustrations as well as medical education pamphlets. Her art is characterised by a minimalistic yet expressive style, often infused with political themes, activism, and a playful use of puns. She uses her platform to comment on social issues and advocate for change, provoking conversation through her illustrations. Her illustrations can be viewed on her personal website (https://nurnajahws.wordpress.com/) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/njhdraws/). She is especially partial to digital illustration and mostly produces artwork using tools such as Procreate. However, she occasionally code switches to more traditional media such as colour pencils, watercolour and acrylics depending on the subject matter.
Once in a while, I find a plea on social media; a girl asking for someone; anyone; to help her look for her father. This girl screams her pain into the abyss of this bottomless pit.
The abyss, a religious abyss as it seems, does not seem to care. The abyss follows the halal way, it says. And so, you must look for your father if you insist on getting married, it says. Biological father, despite the nineteen other men in your life that can step into his role, it insisted. Siapa suruh nak kahwin, it says, the religious abyss says. This is the halal way, the religious abyss says. Advertise your struggle in the newspaper for three consecutive weeks, it says. This is the halal way, it says. Write a letter to the National Registry to find where he is, it says. Prove that you are worthy of his guardianship, it says. This is the halal way, it says. Lose all your money for his love that you never earned, it says. Lose your sanity too, while at it, it says. Your sacrifices do not go unnoticed, for this is the halal way, the religious abyss says.
But what happens when the guardian discards his ward and refuses to be found?
So, I borrowed the girl’s anger to carve something out of it. In making these prints, I stepped out of my comfort zone to attempt linocut for the first time. The result is a messy, smeared and smudged cacophony of questions upon questions.
It is always ‘where is wali?’ –
but never ‘who is wali?’
‘whose wali?’
‘which wali?’
‘why this wali?’
‘how to find wali?’
-and more importantly, ‘WHAT wali?’.
