Artist Statement

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My work increasingly considers the precarious relations between collective identity, interdependence and its constraints on the individual through considerations of heritage, tradition, homes, borders, mobility and migration. These themes have had an imprint on my outlook​ and contributed to shaping my art and life. My work draws on the formal elements of architecture inspired by the cultural heritage and current rush to “reconstruct” in the Middle East region. It aims to draw a perturbed image of an unsettled landscape that has witnessed violent changes and transformations. 

 

I manipulate and transform man-made and natural materials such as hard paper, barbed wire, plaster, soldier figurines, acrylic and straw to create new shapes and forms that evoke a new set of meaning and metaphors. Through constructing and deconstructing, I aim to convey the concept of a shift of these iconic structures, from their former position within a historical-cultural tradition to a complex contemporary form, with the ensuing transformation from order to disorder and vice versa. The work creates a visual metaphor for dislocation and disorientation, where new potential has been unleashed in a fragile and troubled landscape that is witnessing the rapid social change, shifting power structures, inept development and an uncertain future.