Maaida Noor uses verses of the Islamic scripture to convey positive, affirmative messages about Islam through her bright, colorful painting.
My work is based on how I feel connected to my God and His message. As a Muslim woman I believe it takes but one positive thought when given a chance to survive and thrive to overpower an entire army of negative thoughts. My approach to our society and culture is that the less preoccupied we are, the more time there is to obsess over anxious sensations, cultural dilemmas, life’s fate and fortunes. Quite simply, the more you engage with life the less stagnant and anxious you will be. We all have multi faceted dimensions to our existence…some of us hide and some of us reveal.
In "Burden," I depict my belief that, though we do not have a say when we are born, nor in when we die, life has a clear beginning and a clear end. What is sometimes endeared is the journey between two points. There are different mechanisms of coping with the tribulations of life such as patience, faith, prayer and acceptance. But what I find the most profound and the most comforting and which connects me to GOD is what He says in The Qur’an: “Allah does not burden a soul beyond that it can bear” (2:286) Realize that what you are going through is something that has been pre-planned and which Allah has guaranteed you can handle.
It is important in my view to change perspectives by using insightful poetry to give a different perception of how we deal with our self and our nafs. My painting "Khudi" was inspired by a verse of a Muslim Sufi poet, a humanist and a philosopher Bulleh Shah (1680- 1757 Uch, Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan). He wrote, "You read to become all knowledgeable but you never read yourself. You read so many books to know it all, yet fail to ever read your heart at all. You run to enter temples and mosques but you never entered your own heart. You rush to holy shrines to play a part, would you dare enter the shrine of your own heart. Everyday you fight Satan but you never fight your own Ego. You are quick to attack the evil one, yet pride is a battle you have not won. Bulleh Shah you try grabbing that which is in the sky but you never get hold of what sits inside you. You grab for a star you can control, yet fail to grasp the light in your own soul. Let the race end, my friend."
I also have an immense love for my country and I often portray the rich cultural values of Pakistan. In "Truck Art," I have chosen the under-appreciated, indigenous Pakistani tradition of truck painting as an inspiration. This inspired me because of its fascinating quality and surrealistic details. Whilse I travelled the roads of Pakistan I found an extraordinary history, starting in the days of the Raj. As early as the 1920’s, competing transportation companies would hire craftsmen to adorn their buses in the hopes that these moving canvases would attract more passengers. While "truck art" doesn’t serve the same purpose anymore, it is still as prevalent as ever and has become more intricate and developed a deeper cultural significance over time.