The Encounter

2022
  • SADU WEAVING OF HAND DYED WOOL AND SOFT SCULPTURE MADE OF TUSSAR SILK AND ACRYLIC PAINTING, TOTAL DIMENSIONS: 900 X 300 X 80 CM
  • I have always been interested in transitional moments in history, when things appear and disappear at a rapid pace. In...
    I have always been interested in transitional moments in history, when things appear and disappear at a rapid pace. In 1945 King Abdulaziz AlSaud the ruler of Saudi Arabia and Franklin D. Roosevelt, the president of the United states of America, sat down together for the first time, the connection between these two men was immediate. King Abdulaziz described it as meeting his “twin”, they were roughly the same age, both heads of state with grave responsibilities, both farmers at heart and both stricken with physical infirmities, as FDR was in a wheelchair and the King walked with much pain and difficulty due to wounds in his legs from many battles when he was younger. Although both men did not live long after this meeting, their bond that day created a lasting relationship between their countries for 77 years, overseen by 7 kings and 14 presidents. 
  • Who were these two men? How did they make this human connection? And why has it lasted? These questions and...
    Who were these two men? How did they make this human connection? And why has it lasted? These questions and their answers formed the basis of my research for my artwork; The Encounter. The result is a multilayered portrayal of my research into those questions where I present a backdrop of a country and an industry, overlaid with two blooming desert roses representing human interaction. 
  • The background of the artwork is a large tapestry woven using the traditional bedouin craft of Sadu, the weavers used...
    The background of the artwork is a large tapestry woven using the traditional bedouin craft of Sadu, the weavers used a specially commissioned hand-dyed wool in the shades of the Arabian landscape. The Sadu tapestries were gathered from the homes of the weavers and stitched together to create a landscape defined by intricate stitching in black wool that draws abstracted lines of a desert landscape and towering oil rigs in the form of ladders rising from the ground. Suspended over the tapestry are two soft sculptures inspired by the form of the sand crystal, colloquially called the Desert Rose. 
  • A delicate hand-woven Tussar silk was used to form these sculptures. While the petals of the blooming roses had inscriptions...
    A delicate hand-woven Tussar silk was used to form these sculptures. While the petals of the blooming roses had inscriptions of letters exchanged between President Roosevelt and King Abdulaziz, prior and after their meeting. These letters were taken from a historical book I found at the British Library documenting the written conversations that led to The Encounter. 
  • My vision for this artwork is to become a space for contemplation by the people working in the US consulate...
    My vision for this artwork is to become a space for contemplation by the people working in the US consulate in Khobar, reminding them that it is a complicated relationship that exists between trust and diplomacy. This artwork stands as a reminder of the first U.S. president that has ever met with a Saudi Arabian King, and the foundations that meeting laid for both our countries and their people. Remembering always that human connection must always be at the heart of this relationship.