Born 1980 in Macclesfield, Cheshire.

Zara Hussain is a British Muslim artist, she originally took a degree in English Literature and History at Manchester University (B.A. 2001) before going on to work for the BBC; while researching for a programme on Islamic art she learned of a two-year MA course in Visual and Islamic Art at the Prince’s School of Traditional Arts which she decided to take, graduating in 2004.

Hussain has since developed an artistic language which reflects both the aesthetic traditions of her familial origins and contemporary Western culture. References to Islamic art such as geometric structures, tassellating patterns and motifs based on vegetal forms - together with the philosophy underlying the tradition - are combined by Hussain with influences taken from the work of twentieth century artists such as Victor Vasarely, Josef Albers, Mark Rothko, Agnes Martin and Bridget Riley.

She uses a range of media in her practice including painting, sculpture and modern technology involving projected light installations and digital animation. She describes her work as being placed at “the intersection of science and spirituality”.

Recent exhibitions and installations include those at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery 2014; William Morris Gallery, Walthamstow, London 2015; the Sharjah Art Museum UEA 2015/16; Today Art Museum, Beijing, China 2017; the Barbican, London 2017 and the Hopstreet Gallery, Brussels 2018.

Desert Night Sky II