Transcendence
Transcendence
Curator
Maitha Omaira
Exhibition Opening Date
July 2021
About the Artist
Bashar Hussain Al Shawaf, Enas Sistani, Ghalya Al-Ansari, Kawthar Smaren, Khadija Al-Mammari, Majeda Alhinai, Maryam Alwazzan, Maythaa Mohammed Al Shamsi, Rodha Nasser Almazrouei, Suliman Hilal, William Virgil, and Yousif Musa Albadi.
July 2021
A journey through the maze of life toward spiritual clarity and self-discovery.
Transcendence explores spirituality beyond our common understanding of it. Spirituality is more than just a connection to the soul; how does one transcend in the process? To discover oneself and connect spiritually, the act results in a state of transcendence, through which one might find themselves going beyond physical existence. The collection of artworks by 12 Khaleeji and Gulf based artists reflect the various means of expressing the notion of spirituality and transcendence. The artists reflect it by expressing their personal perceptions of, and experiences with, the complex subject that is spirituality. The exhibition starts with dark artworks to reflect the journey of spirituality and life commencing, then it transitions to color towards the end as artists reflect spirituality beyond typical conceptions.
Lady in the Dark
Maythaa Mohammed Al Shamsi, UAE
2021
The work expresses the emotions of a woman going through a period in her life in which she is facing numerous difficulties. She experiences different feelings, such as loneliness, sadness, injustice and betrayal, in silence due to the difficulty she feels about communicating her feelings to others. She has always been the one to make others happy. She has been trying her best to draw a smile on her face, and to hide her real feelings, and she is still trying because she is a believer, and believes that after all that pain and internal struggle, there will be happy days in her life.
Dots Connector
Yousif Musa Albadi, UAE
2020
In this artwork, Yousif Musa Albadi expresses the concept of spirituality as a light that fills you; it fills your void, and collects your scattered dots to form your presence and being. It is what gives our hollow physical body the value of life. It is something inside you.
Monochrome colors were chosen to allow the viewer to navigate the meaning of the image without any color distractions. The small dots symbolize space, the stars and the sky, in reference to the other dimension of the concept of the soul and its connection to the unseen. The more you communicate with your spirit, the more your personality becomes clear and your body gains its physical dimension, but these points remain part of a larger total that has no limits or distance. Every spot of light is a part of your spirit. It is you.
Do You See Me? Look at Me
Maryam Alwazzan, Kuwait
2021
This work explores the state of being, yet not being within the space of others. The COVID-19 crisis has forced us all to learn to begin communicating without existing in each other’s physical worlds. Our human instinct has encouraged all of our senses to participate in communication once we lost the sense of seeing, touching and being around one another. The artwork expresses the following, “I am here, do you see me? Close your eyes and let your heart look at me.”
In Memories
Khadija Al Mammari, Oman
2019
Untitled
Kawthar Smaren and Suliman Hilal, Saudi Arabia
2021
Sublime
Majeda Alhinai and William Virgil, Oman and USA
2021
Transcendence is the act of release, change of state and transformation beyond the physical. Transcendence is sublime. Its nature may not be seen, but it is strongly felt. To experience the sublime is to transport oneself into a boundless atmosphere. The chemical process of sublimation is what initially inspired this piece. Sublimation is defined as the transition of a substance from the solid to the vapor state. This is what both Majeda Alhinai and William Virgil imagine transcendence to be: a change from something material to immaterial, and in some sense metaphysical. With it being a very personal experience, the artists wanted the piece to loosely depict self-transcendence through the simulation of a human figure.
Garden of the Soul
Enas Sistani, Bahrain
2021
The photo depicts Enas Sistani’s personal definition and experience of being spiritual, which especially occurs when she meditates. The photograph showcases a person draped in prayer rugs with flowers blooming from their chest to showcase shedding oneself from all things mundane and carnal in life. In bridging a gap between the self and a higher power/God, a person (in this case, the artist) can go back to being one with nature and a higher power/God. Like a flower, when the artist immerses herself in spirituality, transcending all things worldly, she experiences pureness and beauty. She would like to think that she is back to the very root of it all, untarnished and livelier than ever.
Eye Keep Thinking About It
Ghalya Al-Ansari, USA
2020
As one looks back at private memories that they do not share with others, they often experience different emotions that overwhelm them, which is symbolized by the many eyes scattered across the walls in this artwork. Each eye’s different size represents a different emotion felt at a different intensity each time a person remembers an intimate memory that they keep locked away. The dollhouse bathroom conveys that memories form houses we visit in our minds. Bathrooms are private places we experience alone, and lock ourselves in away from others. Spirituality is an intimate journey experienced alone. It relates to religion, which has a set of rules and culture that those who are a part of it must follow. As one journeys through life with their religion, they feel as if they’re always being watched, whether that’s by their inner self or the entities they believe are watching them. This feeling can be overwhelming and scary at times, and can lead to internal conflict within one’s mind.
Memories
Bashar Hussain Al Shawaf, Saudi Arabia
2019
The collection of collages tells a story loaded with feelings of place, and people, outside the boundaries of the usual and familiar. The works are composed of phrases and raw materials that are used on a daily basis, and found in every home, respectively. Through them it becomes clear how these things can form a connection, be a form of communication and even evoke a memory, for those who see them. In the process, the physical image transforms into a mental image through a series of internal emotions specific to each viewer, through which the viewer moves between one world and another through a sensory medium outside the boundaries of the image, and the work of metaphor begins, “An artist inspires similes and makes inanimate things feel human.”
I’m Not Trying to Follow the Blind
Rodha Nasser Almazrouei, UAE
2021
The concept behind this work is to channel the abundance of energy, which is an unseen, non-physical force, hence the use of the iris. The aim was to achieve confluence in the human timeline, with spirituality passing through it with consistent waves of energy. This shapes human life according to what we put out there; it carries out so much strength that whatever we project in life just follows through, meaning that we create our own reality.