Self-Portrait
I named this working series "Self-Portrait" because I share scenes of my daily life through these illustrations. It is not a typical self-portrait as it is less about me, but more about my encompassing identity as a Mother, a Muslim, a Bruneian and an Artist.
*They are all little animations which you can view on my instagram @maziyahyussof
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Maziyah Yussof02.07.2020
I thought it was about time update my logo. I decided to add a Blue Carpenter Bee. It's no secret that I love bees and I use them in a lot of my paintings as they represent the themes of fertilization and nature. Bees are also one of the animals mentioned in the Quran. This bee in particular is called the Blue Carpenter Bee and is found in South East Asia. They are huge and bright blue and are important pollinators for our ecosystem. There is a little gem in the middle that is a depiction of my signature patterns. |
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Stay Home
24.03.2020
On March 9th 2020, Brunei recorded its first case of COVID19. I felt anxious, paranoid & would get some form of panic attack every now and then. But two weeks down, I felt a lot more calm because I’ve had a lot time to reflect, a lot of time with my family & I’ve been staying home and just generally keeping good habits in order to stay safe, sane & healthy... And after all this is over, our habits are sure to change for the better... I started working on my Ipad a lot, in particular on Procreate. My kids were home and I had to have something portable and easy to pack up and pick up where I left off. I even started learning basic animation - this is the very first GIF I made. |
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Prayer Time30.10.2020
Is this scene relatable? Hehe. My kids do this all the time - I think they like the fact that we can’t break concentration so they try really hard to do so! The cats do it too. They like to sit in the exact spot where we have to sujood 😅 It always reminds of this story of Prophet Muhammad (𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮): Al-Nasaa’i (1141) narrated from ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Shaddaad that his father said: “The Messenger of Allah (𝘱.𝘣.𝘶.𝘩.) came out to us for one of the evening prayers, carrying Hasan or Husayn. The Messenger of Allah (𝘱.𝘣.𝘶.𝘩) came forward, put the child down and said Takbeer (“𝘈𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘢𝘩𝘶 𝘢𝘬𝘣𝘢𝘳”) to start the prayer. Then he prostrated during the prayer and his prostration lasted for a long time. My father said: I raised my head and saw the child on the back of the Messenger of Allah (𝘱.𝘣.𝘶.𝘩.), so I went back to my prostration. When the Messenger of Allah (𝘱.𝘣.𝘶.𝘩.) finished praying, the people said to him: ‘𝘖 𝘔𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘩, 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘸𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥, 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘙𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.’ He said, ‘𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘶𝘱 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩.’” 💚 |
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Stay Home Part II04.09.21
Our second semi-lockdown in Brunei. Cases started resurfacing on August 7th 2021. I made this about a month into lockdown and was in my first trimester of pregnancy. Just feeling generally lethargic, aimless and vulnerable, all I wanted to do was to keep my family close to me and safe at home. We are all linked in this artwork, symbolising a chain. |
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Selamat Hari Raya 14442023
A family portrait on the first day of Hari Raya. |
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Blue Hill House2024
We officially moved into our very own place in 2022. It was a project that my husband and I worked on whole heartedly. Even after moving in, we have not stopped making changes and additions to our happy place. From planting grass and trees, to adding a playset for our three kids, to constantly decorating and redecorating and filling the house with furniture. Alhamdulillah for our happy place! |
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Family Crest2024
I made a family crest which combines the first initial of each of our names. |