SAHFYHR
ABOUT THE WORK
As a henna and visual artist, my creative process involves a sequence of inquiries to explore the ways in which we can challenge ourselves to approach harmony through a myriad of diversity. Art, as a cathartic tool, has always been the vehicle that allowed me the freedom to find ways to seamlessly blend my internal dualities, having strong pulls toward vastly different interests, that seemed off limits to me, all set by standards of society.
My multidisciplinary artistic expression closely mirrors my own internal struggles and through this journey I have been learning to accept the fullness of - what felt like - my fragmented self. Through this process I am have been guided spiritually to see that my perceptions were just surface, and if I dared to defy society's standards, and just peer beneath the surface, I would be opened up to a world that breathes cohesiveness in all of its diversity.
My love for the art of henna application [a temporary body art], lent itself to being seamlessly translated into various disciplines, just as each soul is fully alive through the Breath of God, despite our different ethnicities. Exploring these varied creative expressions, all emerging from one source [henna], allowed a space where I could challenge my own perspectives on my seemingly fragmented being and embrace the macrocosm of my self. In so doing, by removing the visually obvious threads of cohesion in my art, I challenge viewers to see the soul of each work, even though they exhibit a surface diversity, just as we do.
Through this practice of seeing the similarities in the diverse, we become more compassionate toward ourselves and the world around us. Through the embrace of these eclectic arts, we are given visual tools to help us to open our eyes to the inherent harmony amongst different races, religions and other seemingly divisive traits.
Photo Courtesy of: Studio19