Shakil Akram Khan

Statement

Shakil Akram Khan is a self-taught Canadian engineer turned artist creating modern Islamic geometric art based on tessellations of square kufic calligraphy.His art is inspired by the tessellations of M.C. Escher who in turn was inspired by the geometrical Islamic tiling in Spain. In his work Khan has ingeniously replaced Escher's concept of tiling based on animal forms with Islamic calligraphy. The major themes of Khan's artwork work is based on the search for spiritual peace, the universal attraction to geometric systems and the human struggle for unity and fraternity. He is based in Toronto, Canada.

Artworks

The foundation of this design is based on a tessellation of a word written in square kufic script, an ancient style of Islamic calligraphy. The Arabic word 'Al Jabbaar' is one of the 99 names of God in Islamic theology. It is repeated to form an infinite net with voids in the shape of small and large squares. By specific selection and coloration a crystalline structure based on the shape of an octagon emerges to form a star or snowflake.

The foundation of this design is based on a tessellation of a word written in square kufic script, an ancient style of Islamic calligraphy. The Arabic word 'Al Jabbaar' is one of the 99 names of God in Islamic theology. It is repeated to form an infinite net with voids in the shape of small and large squares. By specific selection and coloration a crystalline structure based on the shape of an octagon emerges to form a star or snowflake.

This design is based on the Ulam spiral which was discovered by Stanislaw Ulam in 1963. This variation depicts a double Ulam spiral system where the point travels between the two centers in an endless loop. The spirals originate from the word 'God' written in Islamic calligraphy. The square kufic style is an ancient ancient Arabic script based on 90 degree angles.