Maziyah Yussof

Depicting Brunei as a faith-based artist
By Aqilah Ali

Born to a Bruneian father and a Korean mother in Brunei Darussalam, Maziyah Yussof (b.1988) has a unique appreciation for life and a distinct ability to paint everyday wonders into worlds of their own. This multidisciplinary artist is fascinated by nature and themes of creation. However, one would not have thought that her art journey started with the question: who am I?

It was in 2006 when she started questioning what identity meant to her. This was when Maziyah, a fresh recipient of the Brunei government scholarship, alighted from metal wings into the United Kingdom to pursue a BA(Hons) in Fine Arts at the University of Southampton and MA in Education at the University of Bath. Being away from home allowed her to explore her Islamic faith and thus began her study in Islamic art.

Today, Maziyah sees her art journey synonymous to chronicling her spiritual beliefs and life in Brunei. She does so to not only appreciate her home and culture, but also to highlight the beauty of Allah SWT’s creations.

Maziyah Yussof, ‘Creator I (Revisited)’, 2019, acrylic and cardstock on perspex, 61 x 61cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

In ‘Creator I (Revisited)’ (2019), amid the geometric patterns and bees, lotus plants reach up in a slight meander to spell الله (Allah in Jawi). Bees are seen as a miraculous gift in Islam while patterns are symbolic of Allah SWT for their perfect and infinite nature.

Maziyah Yussof, ‘Kampong Darussalam (Abode of Peace Village)’, 2020, digital illustration, 48 x 33cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

A quick glance at ‘Kampung Darussalam (Abode of Peace Village)’ (2020) shows a biawak (monitor lizard) trudging up a path past the flora to a stilt house. Upon closer inspection, the world opens up, holding more than meets the eye: the white cat, kingfisher and great egret birds hiding away from the carnivorous biawak’s reach; the yellow simpur flowers on the shrubs being Brunei’s national flower; and the stilt house actually being Istana Darussalam, the birthplace of the Sultan of Brunei.

Maziyah Yussof at her solo exhibition ‘Reverie’, 2019. Image courtesy of the artist.

Maziyah has exhibited in nearly 30 exhibitions including Maybank's Southeast Asian Emerging Women Artists Exhibition, Kintex "KAFA - Korean Art Festival Art Fair'' in South Korea, Under One Sky Budayaw Visual Arts Exhibition in the Philippines, and many instalments of ‘Emerge’ with Creative Space Brunei. In 2019, with the help of two veteran artists from Brunei, Osman Mohamad and Dato Shofry Ghafor, Maziyah organised her first solo exhibition ‘Reverie’ at the Royal Wharf Art Gallery in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam. Here, she exhibited almost 40 of her original works created across her decade-long art practice.

Click here to read our dialogue with Maziyah Yussof, where she talks about how she marries her cultural identity and fascination with the natural world in her faith-based art practice.