Portrait of the Artist: Shahzia Sikander born 1969

Shahzia Sikander’s early work explores the traditions of Indo-Persian miniature painting, bringing the formal elements of that discipline into the depiction of her own identity as a Muslim American. From reinvigorating the traditional, Sikander turned to video art and digital animation. She was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2006.

In these two self-portraits, which are part of a suite of etchings, Sikander exhibits her mastery of drawing and her sophisticated manner of layering of images. Anchored by beautifully etched likenesses, her images are bathed in the colors of a sunrise. Referencing the historical Miraj paintings of the visionary night journey of Prophet Muhammad, she adds the white silhouette of a horse-riding figure as a metaphor for the journey for artistic truth and a nod to her training in the Indo-Persian miniature tradition. The double self-portraits reveal powerful, complex, and nuanced insights into Muslim American identity.