When You Find Allah, You Find Your True Self, 2022
Acrylic on Wood Board
20 in x 24 in
I created a hybrid self-portrait embodying my Islamic identity by combining landscape photographs and Islamic symbolic motifs in this acrylic painting. The entangled forest is a metaphor for the mortal world, which poses several obstacles and distractions between one and the straight path. Water is a symbol of the truth, creating a juxtaposition with the forest; from the water grows a tulip reminiscent of the Ottoman Iznikware motif, resembling the Arabic name of Allah. A reflection of a person is cast in the water below the tulip to manifest the ideology that when one finds Allah, one finds their true self.
