Alia has been an artist and a designer since childhood. Art is a form of meditation for her, a conversation with the Almighty, expressed through colour, texture, light, and darkness. Her inner thoughts, feelings, and experiences as well as her discussion with the divine are shared on the canvas, through photographs, through poetry, and through the third dimension as well - be it sculpture or design of a space. Alia’s art and design, from paintings to buildings, have won international awards and commissions, and have been featured in TV and print. Her body of work includes painting, furniture design, custom cabinetry, light fixtures, photography, sculpture, clothing and costume design, and graphic design.
Growing up in a household with artistic parents, she was encouraged to pursue her passion and was able to nurture and explore her creativity through art and design. This nurturing and exploration led her to receive scholarships and awards for her work in school. Her undergraduate studies were in architecture, receiving a degree from Carleton University. Growing up with a father who is an architect and a mother who is an interior designer, she was immersed in the design world, and it continues to draw her in further. Alia has been working in the architecture and design field for well over 16 years, and started a home staging company 13 years ago, which she still continues to do, amongst other forms of design. Alia received a 2007 ADEX award for design excellence for her coffee table and lamp design and a 2013 Northwest Design award for best contemporary room design for a house in North Vancouver. Her paintings, furniture, and lighting have also been published in 4 magazines, and one of her projects was featured in September 2014 on television. Alia had the privilege of taking part in an event named "Dinner by Design", a charity event where selected designers were given a 12’ by 12’ space in CBC studios to design a dining space and an intricate "table scape". One of her projects was included in the “Contemporary Homes Tour of Western Canada”, with coverage on CBC.
As an artist, Alia has been participating in group and solo exhibitions since 1999. She has received commissions for hotels, offices, and private homes across Canada since 1999. Her first solo show entitled “LIGHT” ran for two months in Ottawa at the Box Gallery in August 2006. Another solo show ran for 3 months at Espana Gallery in Vancouver in 2014.
Recently Alia was named the winner of the Fantini Design award, which she received in Milan in October 2017. She has had the great privilege of being the design lead for four Canadian Jamatkhanas: Kingston Jamatkhana, Calgary Westwinds Jamatkhana, Downtown Toronto Jamatkhana, and Ottawa Jamatkhana. Alia’s greatest honour thus far was during Mawlana Hazar Imam’s Diamond Jubilee, leading the design team across Canada for his private spaces during his visits, as well as a senior part of the team who designed and executed venue and stage designs.
Check out more of her work at www.nowstudio.ca
Nuran Ala Nur - Light upon Light (Diamond Jubilee collaboration with Javid Jah)
Prostration sculpture
