Title: I’m Home
Year: 2022
Size: 122cm wide x 61cm tall x 4cm deep
Technique: Mixed Media Artwork – Acrylic paint, watercolour, gold leaf, sustainable and eco-friendly hand dyed and hand cut embroidered/stitched fibres, saltwater from the Indian Ocean.

“I’m Home” is a tribute to the constant struggle I faced of not being able to swim in the ocean in many parts of the Saudi Arabian Coast. Whether this was because of cultural factors due to gender, or security concerns, I always found it hard having grown up by the ocean in Australia and New Guinea where the ocean is, for many us, our life force. The absolute freedom I feel when I travel back home to Australia, pull into my driveway and race down to the ocean for the first time in months is an indescribable feeling of coming home to that which is familiar, unrestrained, and free.
Flowers are a huge presence in my everyday life. In my culture we wear them in our hair, on our arms or decorate our clothes with them. I have always found the surface of a canvas to be too ‘flat’ so (contrary to normal/historical schools of thought and that which has defined both the boundaries of fine art and its limitations) I decided to follow the beat of my own drum to add sculptural elements to my paintings in the form of whimsical flowers. Dyed with my own range of handmade sustainable and eco-friendly inks my flowers are made using sustainable natural fibres in an effort to support eco-friendly practices. Depending on the materials available and/or what is in season at certain times of the year they can take months to create however the process is a very rewarding one (especially when discovering a new colour or technique!).