Month: June 2022

Roots
Mixed Media, (80cm x 108 cm)

Roots is a collage of photos, maps, roads, and mountain ranges in Austria, linking to my body parts to show my longing to feel belonged resulting from feeling displaced. In Tyrol, I felt like my own roots originated from there, hence the tree-like composition and title. The piece is centered around an early memory with my mum playing Cat’s Cradle, symbolic of an important value she taught me: home is wherever family is. The orange roads further emphasize this as they are actual records of hikes my family and I took.

The First Fall of Snow
Oil on Canvas (25cm x 20cm)

This intimate painting depicts the view I see from my bedroom window in Jerash, Jordan, during the first fall of snow. The gazebo’s form of an almost enclosed circle creates an electrifying bond between my family and I which feels unbreakable, no matter how far we live from each other. The snow is significant to an unforgettable memory in 2022 when we all stayed up late at night waiting anxiously for its first fall, and when it did, we all ran out of our houses cheering in blissful joy together.

Burning Runaway
Digital art , 44 cm x 58.8 cm

The two art pieces include a traditional agarwood (oud) box used in most households in Qatar and other Middle Eastern countries for scent. Once the box is open, it reveals a human figure running, in a desert. This art sequence shows the freedom felt when connecting to one’s personal upbringing and how difficult it is to feel this way when one is disconnected from it. The use of warm colors and clouds makes it surreal and almost as though it is a dream.

The Hidden Struggle
Oil painting, 20cm x30 cm

Using oil painting, the representation of the rich and realistic reality of struggling with diabetes on Garangao, a traditional holiday in Qatar where candy is passed around, is shown. The small size of the insulin pump, should trigger questions from the audience, which is a reaction I usually get when revealing my pump, making me feel alienated for something that is not foreign to me, but others.

Avenue Victor Hugo
Cross-stitch on aida cloth (25.4cm X 38.63cm)

The 44 different colors of thread and 29,820 stitches create a nostalgic memory of strolling in Avenue Victor Hugo in Paris. My most memorable experiences in the neighborhood include: going out for family dinners, my tears rolling down my cheeks as the toy store was closed, and my laughter as my father put me on his shoulders. The 150 hours of work spent on this piece is dedicated to appreciating all these small yet meaningful moments.

Gumball
Clay, underglaze, wooden balls, wood glue, fish string, gloss medium, acrylic paint
(25 X 150 CM)

Every Thursday my grandfather Ali gave out small gumball boxes to his grandchildren. I recall the joy I had opening the orange flavored gumball box and pouring the gumballs into my hand salivating for the chance to put it in my mouth. There are 52 orange hand-painted gumballs that represent the 52 Thursdays in one calendar year that are extended from the ceramic gumball box.

No gastes lagrimas
Charcoal on paper, 48cm x 60cm

Meaning, don’t waste tears in Spanish ,this self portrait is about my struggles with anxiety and a desire to shield myself from those around me. This fear is communicated by my hands. The eyes are a particular powerful focal point that through their hyperrealism, convey the overfixation of my surroundings. The slight smile contrasts the message of the eyes, to convey my need to dissimulate my anxiety.

If looks could kill
Charcoal on paper, 40cm x 25cm

This piece is a self-portrait based on my experience during quarantine when I was placed in a psychiatric hold due to a panic attack over my brother’s death. I had never felt more judged in my life; by strangers and family too. Including my friends and family’s eyes in my composition, I mimicked this affliction I felt at this moment and throughout my struggle with mental health. I also included my own eyes at different ages as a reference to self-judgment.

Mama?
oil on canvas, 60cm x 30cm

I tried to communicate the sense of loss that I felt when my siblings passed away. The portrait of my mother embodies this loss in a tangible way. The blank stare represents sadness, dread, and despair. The viewer may feel a deeper connection to the portrait if they too have experienced loss, and resonate with the pain. I hope they feel a sense of understanding as they see another individual’s similar experience.

NEGATIVE
Digital Print, 53cm x 42cm

NEGATIVE is a self-portrait that conveys my emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Feeling drained yet overwhelmed having to do work like normal increased my stress and irritability. The green represents the sickly feeling I have while the silver paint coming out of my mouth depicts my energy draining out of me even when I am sitting still. The scratches in the superimposed photo represent the increasing reparation I felt from the memory of how my life used to be.

Mountainside
Stoneware Clay 26 x 26 x 25 cm

This piece represents my view through the window on family road trips through the mountains. Every winter holiday, my family would go on a ski vacation. This sight is very comforting to me because I am reminded of the time I spend with my family. I chose to represent this image on a vase because it emphasizes the encompassing feeling. The vase contains family memories represented by printed photos that cannot be seen by the audience from outside the trees.

Beating Heart
Color Pencil (26cm x 32 cm)

 Thud… Thud… Thud… The heart quickens as an individual becomes overwhelmed with many thoughts. However, the people around may never notice the anxiety unraveling as the heart is hidden away and encapsulated for safety. I used dark colors and created a metallic style to create a shaky mood that expressed worry and fear. Additionally, I implemented red within the background to further demonstrate the racing of a heartbeat as red connotes danger.

Butterflies
Acrylic on canvas (39cm x49 cm )

The saying “Butterflies in my stomach” is utilized to showcase the anxious fluttering of wings within an individual’s stomach when they are faced with many thoughts. Recently, I realized that my thoughts overwhelm me because they tend to change, disappear, and reappear. While the subject has a distorted waist to connect to my other artworks, I want the viewer to feel that they are the subject as they hide behind their own butterflies.

Decomposition
Digital photomontage(1920×1080 pixels)

I wanted to convey the gradual process of mental degradation that comes with no sleep for an extended period of time. I decided to include both what that looked like to others and what it was like for me, therefore utilizing the mirror to show those differing perspectives. The mirror represents what I see and the gradual loss of sense one experiences when going without sleep for hours on end, while the changes in expression, position, and hair in the self not in the mirror are noticeable changes that those around me can observe. I hope that this piece can provide insight into what these long, arduous periods are like to those that have not experienced them, and convey a relatable experience to those who have.

Absorbed
Watercolor on Paper (58.5cm x 37 cm)

This is a self portrait with some surreal influence. It represents how easy it is to slip into a very unhealthy routine of not sleeping, not taking care of oneself, or even not eating. One becomes so blind to the people around them that care, and becomes all-consumed by the thoughts of others that they have no way of knowing. The mascara symbolizes how even if someone tries to hide how they are doing, they cannot mask their bleak outlook.

Biophilia (Series)
Photography 81 x 30 cm

This creative portrait photography series represents the tranquility of nature. Biophilia is my take on Ophelia and her frequently told story. It was influenced by creative photographer Justin Dingwall, Victorian era painter Sir John Everett Millais and photographer JeeYoung Lee. Biophilia describes humans’ innate need to affiliate with other life such as plants. Essentially, this means Ophelia had a built in desire to be near nature.

Eternal Fashion
fabric dress (110cm x 44 cm )
Eternal is the first wearable art that I created. The dress imitates nature’s forms and shapes, with a gown that acts as a veil of leaves along the trunk of a tree. I miss the vibrant, rich greens of Hong Kong and the Netherlands and Eternal reminds me it is and will always be a part of who I am. To capture my love for nature I created a dress that is dedicated to the eternity of nature as a part of my identity.

Fat Man
Acrylic on Canvas (150cm x 100 cm)

Based on the works of Roy Lichtenstein, Fat Man serves as a critique of nations that exploit warfare as a means of generating profit, especially within the United States led invasion of Iraq in 2003. The work depicts the B-29 bomber Enola Gay, which was made famous after dropping the first atomic bomb over Hiroshima in 1945. The bombs and money represent the profit made as a result of destruction, even as the Statue of Liberty observes compliantly.

Onward and Upward
Acrylic on Canvas (90cm x 60 cm)

Onward and Upward is a manifestation of my pride after receiving a scholarship that has given me the opportunity to realize my dream of joining the US Navy. My piece depicts an F/A-18 Hornet painted in the livery of the Blue Angels, the Navy’s most distinguished aerial display team. In the same way the aircraft that dominates the foreground amid scrap and wreckage, I finally feel like I’ve accomplished something substantial after years of self-doubt.