Artist Registry
The White Columns Curated Artist Registry is an online platform for emerging and under-recognized artists to share images and information about their respective practices. The Registry seeks to create a context for artists who have yet to benefit from wider critical, curatorial or commercial support. To be eligible, artists cannot be affiliated with a commercial gallery in New York City.
To apply to the Registry, click here. Join our mailing list here to receive our open call announcement and other programming updates. For any further questions about the Registry, please contact us at registry@whitecolumns.org.
STATEMENT OF WORK
My artistic practice began in Saudi Arabia, where I was born and raised. Creating art was a leisure hobby until I immigrated to the United States and decided to pursue a career as a full-time artist. In 2002, I earned my MFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and since then, I have pursued a full-time career as an artist. My primary media are printmaking and installation; however, I am also strongly drawn to painting, drawing, and animation. I use vibrant colors like hot pink, regal gold, playful yellows, reds, and blues. Henna paste, a symbol of tradition and adornment, finds its place in my work, bridging the gap between history and the modern era.
My dream masterpiece integrates printmaking and animation into a large-scale gallery installation.
Despite the restrictions on depicting human forms in Saudi Arabia, I was strongly attracted to figurative drawing and painting, influenced by Modern Western artists. Concurrently, I was immersed in Islamic art aesthetics, Arabic calligraphy, and local women's artistic traditions, such as henna patterns, Sadu design, and Qutt art. I became more aware of these aesthetics when I moved to the US. Awakened by its absence, I rediscovered the richness of Islamic art, particularly the genius of geometric and floral design. I am amazed by the ability to create varied patterns using a single grid.
As a result, my artistic practice fuses two seemingly contradictory elements: the human figure and Islamic geometric abstraction. I have worked to break down the unconscious barriers that separate these two worlds, blending them into a cohesive visual narrative. My art tells the stories of women who have claimed their power, focusing on figures from Arab history or Arab American communities. Motivated by my experiences of gender discrimination and the oppression of women, I strive for social justice through my work. Inspired by female role models, I make these women central figures in my pieces and drape Islamic designs around them.
Drawing on the very constructs of faith and culture, my art initiates a dialogue of reform and a call for change, seeking to amplify the voices of those silenced and overlooked in Saudi Arabia and beyond.