There is a Burnish for Everything Painting

The seeds of my art practice were planted in darkness. My childhood was defined by war; I escaped by turning inwards. In the inner worlds I found timeless order, permanence and meaning beyond the chaos, destruction and noise. Now, all of my work is a striving to bring a little of this reality through into our increasingly brittle and muddled world. In this spirit, rigorous research underlies everything I create: the scripts, materials, themes I use, all have deep roots in the ancestral knowledge I bring back to light. My visual language is derived from the Kufi scripts, the earliest tradition of Arabic calligraphy, which few can read today. Composed of pure meaning that doesn’t give itself away, the work bypasses the mind to engage a deeper recognition, and holds the viewer in contemplation. The materials and techniques I use are varied, but all prioritise sustainability and respect for the living world. I no longer use industrial colours, instead hand-preparing paint, dyeing paper, and even foraging for materials. In this way I’m part of a complete creative process that begins with raw gifts from the Earth and ends in an art object: the alchemy of transforming matter for the sake of Beauty. Wall pieces are only one of three threads in my body of work. With my Artist Books, I take art off the wall to tell more complex stories that unfold in multiple, tactile dimensions. My Treasure Boxes involve all the senses along with non-linear storytelling; in their context, objects we consider trivial become centres of meaning, their simple beauty revealed. But while the boxes hint at a story, they never actually tell: the tension between not-knowing and longing-to-know is held, the sense of mystery preserved.