The myriad geometric patterns in the work of Jordanian artist Julia Ibbini pulse with vitality. Her pieces, beaming with a multitude of intricate details, colors, and forms, are captivating and mystical. They immediately mesmerize and consume the viewer. It all stems from the complexity of her creative process that consists of the layering of digital works and then painting these with various varnishes, crystals, and pins. Now, the artist is developing a new body of work that explores a range of ornamental motifs within the pieces, each with its own lineage or history. Through her multifaceted and highly detailed work that straddles the disciplines of art and design, the Abu Dhabi-based artist explores what she calls “the system” we live in. “During the pandemic, I was forced to go inside and focus on my practice,” she shares. Ibbini’s work is highly digital in nature, comprising multiple layers of renderings coupled with collaged embellishments as well as painted forms. “I always gravitated to digital,” she says. “In university I used to often play with design software. For a long time, my work was mostly digital but around late 2016, the Maker Space opened in Abu Dhabi, which features many fantastic devices. I started working with laser machines. It was like a light bulb went off. I was able to play with layering more physically and in a more tactile manner.” Ibbini used bits of paper to start with, playing for months with the new material and tools she discovered. “I was drawn to huge amounts of intricacy that you can achieve through working with laser machines,” she explains.

The 41-year-old artist, who was raised in the UAE, returned to the UK where she was born and obtained a degree in visual communication from Leeds College of Art and Design. Following university, she opened her studio spaces in Abu Dhabi. “I had always wanted to be an artist but ended up gravitating towards disciplines such as design, printmaking, and typography,” she says. “I worked in marketing for a long time while continuing as an artist on the side and I have progressed to now doing art more full-time; but it took many years to develop and evolve.”

In 2019, Ibbini was the sixth winner of the Van Cleef & Arpels emergent design prize, in partnership with Dubai-based Tashkeel. She produced a collection of four of her Symbio vessels for the prize in collaboration with Van Cleef & Arpels and Tashkeel and the vessels were subsequently shown at the Van Cleef & Arpels boutique in Dubai Opera and then at Jeddah 21,39. The vessels were inspired by patterns found in nature and Islamic art. Like all of her work, they combine references to modern art, design and technology – in many ways “the systems” we live in. Ibbini has garnered international attention for her work that unites east and west, design and contemporary art, and tradition and modernity. It was at Art Basel Miami that she was first noticed and picked up several international collectors who were entranced by her intricate detailing and references to Islamic art. “The collectors I met in the US buy from me regularly, for which I am so grateful,” she notes. She has since gone on to exhibit at Jonathan Levine Projects in New Jersey, the LA Art Show, the Sharjah Islamic Arts festival, and at 21,39 in Jeddah last year.

One quick look at Ibbini’s meticulous creations and viewers will find visual kinship with Islamic art as well as references to the Arab world. “I am a sponge for the motifs of the visual culture that is around me – I spend a lot of time exploring Abu Dhabi’s streets. There’s so much to soak up,” she says. “One of my favorite things to do is to walk around the back streets. In my work, the references to Islamic geometry do lead because I find it fascinating from a historical perspective.” Ibbini recalls visual memories of times spent at her family home in Amman. “I remember our house in Jordan and the fantastic furniture there – some of the motifs I work with go back to the ninth century, but I am repurposing them digitally through my work,” she shares. “I love each little motif that has this lineage that goes back in time. When you work with them you feel like you are part of the thread of history.” Such references pay homage to Arab heritage and craft, with Ibbini’s art providing a synthesis of tradition, present day culture, and the avant garde ways of futuristic technology. Her work proves that the future can – and should – maintain heritage, and that the Arab world’s traditional crafts can be preserved through both digital and sculptural means.

Ibbini’s process is just as intricate as the finished projects. It starts with an examination of motifs and drawings, which are done by hand and then reworked on the computer. She often works with new materials or techniques, requiring research and experimentation ahead of the actual “build” process. Works can take up to six months from initial concept to final outcome. “From 2019, the complexity of the pieces arrived at a point where they required algorithms as there is a lot of repetition and patterning in the work,” she explains.