Omar Darwish
We discussed extensively how the beauty of Allah can be found everywhere, no matter where you turn, from the east to the west. I took inspiration in finding the beauty of Allah anywhere, especially in nature. As I was wandering around Micheal's in search of supplies, the decor flowers section caught my eye. That is when I knew that the medium for my project should be flowers as a deeper metaphor of finding Allah's beauty in nature.
Orange flower petals were used to write the word Allah in Arabic while the green leaves from the stem were used to decorate the surrounding canvas. The backdrop of the canvas is a dark green that I painted on the canvas using a waving motion with the brush to replicate the look of a grass field filled with the natural randomness. Each blade of grass is wavy and randomly drawn to create a more natural feel to the artwork. The orange flower petals provide contrast to the surrounding greenery to make the beauty of the word Allah stand out from the rest of nature. Originally, the artwork was only meant to be on 10 inch by 10 inch canvas, however I opted for two canvases side by side (20 inches by 10 inches) in order to stretch out the word Allah.
I believe that my artwork carries a deeper theme that Allah can be expressed anywhere, from the pages of the Quran, to calligraphic painting and writing to flower petals in nature. I had great fun creating something I am sure to keep up on my common room wall for the coming years!
Final Exam Part 1 Section B:
I decided to create a collage of different mosques throughout the world because of the slide that Professor Asani showed during lecture. I remember writing in my lecture review how the architecture of mosques throughout the world piqued my interest and I was inspired to create something that reflected it. The medium for this collage is normal copy paper that I cut into varying shapes in order to create the image of a mosque composed of a multitude of internationally inspired mosques, each rich with its own culture and history. The venue/canvas is a blank copy paper that is meant to represent that this mosque does not have one definitive background but can be applied to any background because of the vast number of cultures that accumulate in this one building. If I could pick a venue to show this piece, it would be the entrance of an academic building, especially one that is meant for the history or social studies department, to show how beautiful something can be if all of us work together and combine our own cultures and identities.
My intended audience is westerners who view Islam as one monolithic identity that is independent of culture. The reason for this is because when someone pictures a mosque, they may only be thinking of the Masjid al Aqsa, which has taken the news recently because of the violent attacks, or the Kaaba. However this piece combines mosques from Lahore Pakistan, Al Madinah Saudi Arabia, Delhi India, Xi'an China and Palestine. I want my audience to understand that Islam is a religion that evolves depending on the context it is found in, however all Muslims still believe in their submission to god and worship Allah (SWT) in their own way as demonstrated by the culturally rich array of architecture in this collage.
The point from part A that is best represented by this collage is the first point. Islam should not be seen as a monolith. Islam is a rich collection of cultures and traditions that together make up the religion. As seen from the art work, the architecture may resemble each other due to the geometric patterns, towers and domes. However each country offers a different take on it, whether it is the color, the size or the shape of the mosque, because of the culture that is present in the area. Point being, all of the architecture is similar in essence, different in practice. All muslims pray and submit to God, regardless if the way they do so may differ. And I believe that this piece does well to capture this.
The metaphor for this idea is all muslims pray in a mosque, and the beauty of this one is that it is made from everyone's identity.
