The Portrait Video
The Self
This art work talks about my thoughts and feelings toward the daily destruction of the mangroves, which I witnessed daily while going kayaking or running in Umm Al Quwain and Ras Al Khaimah. I had a period of time when I felt I was one of those mangroves trees especially when I painted or sketched them. I spent a long time with the mangroves and I feel I know them very well! I felt their pain too!
I faced waves of difficulty while working to protect the mangroves, and yet so much support, too.
For this art work I borrowed the myth of Daphne turning into a laurel tree! There is a certain satisfaction and a beauty, I feel, of becoming a tree! I wish I could be a tree!
The Self is located at the Sharjah American International School in Umm Al Quwain to be on display for one year, 2017-2018.
The Self
The Self is a portrait of an important influencing person in my life: Nawal Al Saadawi. I called the painting The self, asn in a bigger self, not a small identity forced on me by society, culture, religion or the media. Saadawi goes beyond the limits of what defines her as a woman and encourages others to share her commitment to creat a fairer and more equal society. Saadawi continues the struggle for ‘liberation’, ‘love’ and ‘equality’ and thats why I included these values in English and Arabic on Saadawi’s shoulder.