Gillian Turnham is a contemporary watercolour artist based in Peterborough, Ontario. She graduated from NSCAD University as a fine metalsmith, creating miniature sculptural works in metal, wood, and stone. Her early practice investigated elements of structure and embellishment through architectural miniature. As a practising Muslim, her work functions as an expression of her faith, and since 2019 Turnham has explored increasingly complex patterns from the Islamic tradition. She has received training and mentorship from some of the world’s leading educators in Islamic geometric design, including pattern analysis and ruler-and-compass construction techniques. Her work now situates classical geometry and manuscript illumination within a contemporary Fine Art context.

Gillian has forthcoming exhibitions scheduled across 2026–2027 in California, London, Istanbul, and Paris. In recent years, she has expanded her practice to include teaching and community engagement, alongside exhibitions, written articles, a radio series, and commissioned works. She is a regular instructor with The King’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts in London, England, and lectures both privately and institutionally, most recently at Trent University in Peterborough and Carleton College in Minnesota.

She is also a member of the GAAC Collective (Geometric Abstraction Artists of Canada), a select group of visual artists contributing to the contemporary field of geometric abstraction.