masking out

mask exploration . 2020

it's officially summer! 

in addition to the first half of the year being an absolute mind****, we now have to bear the scorching heat with half our faces covered thanks to coronavirus. funny enough, before the world moved into mandatory mask wearing, i've been wanting to work on masks as part of my textile practise. so far, i've worked on textile projects for adorning the human body (capes, wraps). i want to continue these explorations through mask making.

concealing one's face comes in various forms and practises found in many cultures around the world. it holds great significance in the arab world, wearing masks or face coverings for various reasons – religious or spiritual, adhering to certain weather conditions, or as a way of dressing conservatively. there is a rich history behind mask wearing rooted in nomadic traditions which have carried through to contemporary face coverings we see today.

i'm interested in exploring masks as a tool for expression. with your face concealed, how can you convey emotion? in many tribal ceremonies, costumes and masks are worn to exaggerate movement and expression, sometimes transforming the wearer to present someone otherworldly and magical. i find these traditions so fascinating and want to explore these practises in my works.

the short gif above shows my first attempt at making a mask that comes alive with movement. it's made from a used medical face mask and multi-coloured ribbons. this is very much a prototype, introducing myself with the process of constructing a mask. i had so much fun making it, and loved the results when wearing it. i felt like i was dancing again, the mask exaggerating my movement.

i'm definitely excited for making more masks in the near future so stay tuned. until then, enjoy the gif above, and notice how my glasses fly off my face! thank you azim al ghussein for taking these photos under the summer sun, and helping me find my glasses hidden in the bushes...

kleaning out my kloset

'kleaning out my kloset' logo . 2020

i'd like to announce a new project i'm setting up titled 'kleaning out my kloset'. 

over the last few months, i've been struggling with trying to clean my room and make a proper living space for myself. my bedroom has been in an embarrassingly bad state since my early twenties, and i haven't been successful in cleaning it up since! but in recent attempts during the covid lockdown, i began clearing out my cupboard, and noticed the amount of t-shirts i've collected over the years.

i've always loved t-shirts. it's become a sort of uniform, wearing a graphic tee on a daily basis. if i'm not wearing one, you know something is wrong! my t-shirts are a reflection of my interests – i love rocking a tee of one of my favourite pop stars, or of characters from comics or tv shows i've grown to love. i wish i kept every t-shirt i wore since i was a kid. i still recall some of my favourite t-shirts in high school which were either discarded or donated once i outgrew them. which is why i've been collecting all my t-shirts over the last couple of decades. some have been difficult to let go of, and some were kept in hopes that i'd be able to wear them again someday.

i've always received compliments over the t-shirts i've worn. i'd like to think i've acquired quite a strong collection of tees. i'm slowly rediscovering many forgotten t-shirts as i clean out my closet, carefully folding and storing them in appropriate boxes, archiving them since i have no plans of getting rid of them anytime soon. with that in mind, i decided to create an instagram account sharing my collection of t-shirts online. i hope it becomes a digital archive and resource that's accessible to other t-shirt aficionados out there. 

without further ado, here's 'kleaning out my kloset'. please do follow the account if it interests you. i'll be posting tees on a regular basis so stay tuned. i hope this will be fun!