Sharifah Sorayya

Sharifah Sorayya is a Malaysian-born interdisciplinary artist based on Kaurna land by way of England, Saudi Arabia, and Canada. She is heavily influenced by her familial and personal lived history, particularly through pre-and post-independence Malaysia – including the 1969 May 13 Racial Riots.

She dances between abstract paintings, textiles, and printmaking – entering a dialogue with the materials and techniques to highlight the complexities of her life: its joys, sadness, unexpected turns and survival. It is an invitation to mutual understanding.

Her work has been exhibited throughout South Australia, in Victoria, and published in ‘Unmasked – Reflections on Virus Time’ curated by Sharmini Flint (Singapore), and is held in private collections across Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Middle East, and the UK. Her batik was exhibited as a visiting guest among Indonesian Batik alumni in the Cultural Museum in Jogjakarta in 2023 which was a great honour and it was accepted into the juried 1st International Batik Exhibition in Naples, Florida (USA), commemorating the International Year of Batik 2024/2025, where she was the sole representative for Australia. Her photography is currently in Japan for an upcoming exhibition.

Photograph by Sia Duff