Nadia Janjua

Nadia Janjua is an artist and architect based in Western Maryland, USA, working under the business name NJARTitecture (Nadia Janjua Art + Architecture). Born to Kashmiri-Pakistani parents in the forested mountains of Western Maryland, Nadia has always been strongly influenced by the solitude, beauty and wisdom of her natural surroundings — there’s nothing that makes her smile more than the discoveries of nature (and she smiles a lot! ).

According to a home video from 1983, she apparently started drawing before she could read or write at the age of four, and she began painting when she was sixteen. Over the past fifteen years, she has experimented with various media, currently focusing on exploring how to allow beauty to emerge from the every day object. Her paintings are inspired by the challenge of capturing potential, nuance, nostalgia and beauty in the reflection of God’s creation. Through both her paintings and her architecture, she explores narratives of her past, present, and future in the hopes of not only processing her own life journey, but also striking the viewer to reflect more deeply on their own personal narratives. Her architectural design aims to enhance the multi-sensory experience of space, encouraging the inhabitant to go beyond just the visual sense and become an active participant in creating the experience with all of their abilities.

Nadia has been involved in various architectural relief efforts after the occurrence of natural or man-made disasters, and is committed to selling her art and art-related products to raise funds for relief efforts. She is also passionate about women’s issues, mainly domestic violence and sexual abuse prevention and advocacy, and uses her creativity in every way she can to encourage healing, spiritual awareness and self-empowerment.

You can view Nadia’s body of work on her main site NJARTitecture, and her art for sale at SHOPNJARTitecture; this summer, she just started a unique, new line of jewelry based on her paintings, the “Dangling Canvas Line.” She is also passionate about writing, and you can check out some of her reflections in written word on her site called “Hajj Mabrour, Insha’Allah,” which chronicles her reflection post-Hajj (pilgrimage). Nadia can be contacted at nadiaj@njartitecture.com.