Dhiyanah hassan

Dhiyanah Hassan creates art as portals of wonder where subtler emotional realities can be seen, explored, and accepted. Their art is their way of speaking to and for life, celebrating diversity and encouraging decolonized reclamation of the imagination informed by their lived experiences as a disabled South-Southeast Asian artist and writer.

Cover Art

Cover art projects, mostly for commissions. A mix of art-only and art-and-design pieces, with some hand-drawn typography.

Recent Work

Recently completed personal and/or commissioned work.

Strictly no genAI. I don't consent to any of my work or communications being used, scraped, or uploaded on/for such harmful tech.Real art, real work takes time. Authenticity over artifice from start to finish.

About

Dhiyanah (dee-ya-nah, they/she) creates art that celebrates diversity and encourages decolonized reclamation of the imagination. Their art is their way of speaking to and for Life. Dhiyanah lives in Malaysia and makes work while navigating neurodivergences, disabilities, and chronic pain -- realities that inform their multi-disciplinary studio practice and processes. From beauty and curiosity to grief and mystery, Dhiyanah's art exists as portals of wonder where subtler emotional realities can be seen, explored, and accepted.Dhiyanah's works have appeared in various online and offline platforms. They were a winner for 2024's Dream Foundry art contest and are creating in a mix of independent, collaborative, and redistribution projects.When not making art, they tend to pain management and self-care. They can often be found lounging with their cat, diving into thoughtful reads, and negotiating with yarn for crochet while sipping on hot cups of tea.Specializing in hand-drawn 2D traditional and digital illustrations, Dhiyanah is accepting commission and project proposals for 2026-2027. Early bookings are necessary.They are excited about working on book covers, publication illustrations, kidlit/MG/YA art, hand-drawn graphic design assets for small businesses, and private art/gifts.

FAIRY/TRUE FORM PORTRAITS

Commissioned portraits based on client's descriptions of themselves in their fairy or true form. Clients can opt for personal-only or limited commercial use, this option is available as a private art or gift commission.

ENHYDRO

Mermaid characters inspired by crystals and gemstones. Available for licensing.

KID LIT ART

Dhiyanah has an increasing interest in illustrating for or making cover art for SFFH kid lit, picture books, middle grade, and young adult publications. While they practice many techniques to ensure versatility in their artistic voice, these particular pieces fit the textural and conceptual plays - the sometimes-bright, delightfully weird, sometimes-serious, and nature-focused whimsy - that they'd like to bring to this part of their studio practice.
Some pieces available for licensing.

sketches & studies

Selected works from Dhiyanah's sketchbook play-practices alongside studies and final pieces on landscape, environment art, sci art, and a mix of observational and imaginative studies on subject matters they're interested in.

digital

Hand-drawn pieces created for personal self-expression and technical practice/play, along with selected commissioned pieces. Some pieces are available for licensing.

Traditional medium

In the early years of Dhiyanah's art practice they worked primarily with traditional media. They have long-term relationships with inks, watercolors, and graphites in tandem with an on-again-off-again dynamic with acrylics (don't ask them yet about fiber arts, they'll one day share more about that!). In recent works, Dhiyanah has started to merge their traditional and digital techniques together, always focusing on hand-drawn elements.
Below are selected works from their fine art and traditional illustration portfolio. In some of these, the artwork will be credited to 'Afraid of Words,' which was Dhiyanah's artist alias when they first started showcasing their art publicly.

Writing

Dhiyanah's writings have appeared in various online and offline platforms. They've mostly written in poetry and memoir forms, which buoyed them through years of surviving traumatic environments and then as an anchor while training as an intuitive healer. They've had to take many pauses in between their writing journey to navigate changes caused by disability and other life factors. During that time, Dhiyanah's writings appeared in Burning House Press (online), 'Poetry Moves' anthology (2020, Ethos Books), 'Voices: 2019' chapbook, Issue Magazine (online, defunct), and other venues.Dhiyanah has also been commissioned for non-fiction pieces and volunteers various creative labor for community-centered initiatives.In addition to reclaiming a writing routine amidst on-going health challenges, they are now working on speculative fiction for adults and younger audiences, hoping to be able to find spaces to share them.

Below are some of their past works that can be found online (the bios and links from these pages might be outdated, but Dhiyanah is still grateful for the space to share their creations from the diverse intersections of their experiences):

Contact

Dhiyanah is accepting art and illustration project and commission proposals for 2026-2027. They are also available for full/part-time or contractual work as an in-house artist-illustrator for like-valued publishing companies/collectives. Please send a proposal via the booking form below.Early bookings are necessary, and it is important that clients familiarize themselves with Dhiyanah's work as well as the guidelines on the booking form to identify disability-related accommodations required to complete work and transactions.Offline version of this form or a 30-minute consultation call can be made available upon request.To do so, and to inquire about original art purchases and licensing artwork to use for cover art purposes, please connect with Dhiyanah's social media and make a clear request (they check insta and bsky more frequently).