The first painting completed in the Pilgrimage through Gallery Comics project, Shah Jalal (2023 - 2025).

The painting is based on a Pilgrimage to Shah Jalal, Banglasdesh (2016), performed with her mother and cousin. It captures rituals such as feeding the sacred pigeons, lighting incense at the Saint's shrine, and praying in the Mosque.

Reflections on Aisha Bewley's Sub-Atomic World in the Quran are also incorporated into the painting.

Acrylic paintings on unstretched canvas (350cm x 55cm)

Shah Jalal on display at NAE Open 2026. Photo credit: @tom_platinum_morley 

Pilgrimage, a journey with a spiritual purpose, promotes connection and well-being. In this project, I perform pilgrimages belonging to various faiths (currently focusing on secular and Abrahamic traditions), walking both traditional and non-traditional routes, as well as visiting sacred places. 

Gallery comics, created specifically to exhibit rather than print, are then used to recreate these journeys. Through them, I capture my own thoughts and experiences alongside ideas from the community and influential thinkers, embracing ideas that may feel unfamiliar to me in order to capture diverse voices. Through the accessibility of the comics form, viewers are encouraged to explore, make their own connections, and find their own meaning. 

The project was launched during my residency at NAE (2023). During the residency, I worked with local places of worship to organise an interfaith pilgrimage in collaboration with Mansfield Road Baptist Church (Christianity), Nottingham Liberal Synagogue (Judaism), and Karima institute (Islam). I also began my research through further community engagement and material experimentation, whilst developing the painting Shah Jalal.