Born in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in 1987 and of Palestinian descent, Dana Awartani reinterprets the forms, techniques and concepts that shape Middle Eastern culture through painting, sculpture, performance and installation. A particularly striking work of hers is “Love is my Law, Love is my Faith” (2016)—inspired by eight love poems by Ibn Arabi, a 12th-century Andalusi Sufi mystic, poet and philosopher. Herein Awartani translates the poetic thought into a combination of textile and geometry creating an immersive and meditative effect.

The artist explains: “Known as the taj al- rasa il wa-minhaj al-was il, these particular writings are considered some of the best love poems in Islamic history, outlining the nature of divine love and the perfect believer from a range of perspectives. He was inspired to write them while in Mecca, staring at the Ka’ba and was overcome by the presence of God. He felt the Ka’ba ask him to make the tawaf, the circumambulation around it, and the Zamzam ask for him to drink from it and he was afraid of this feeling of directly having the eyes of God upon him.

“But in this fear he felt love, an unusual kind of love. As he stood, staring at this being of stone, he thought of how it stood as an intermediary between the human and the divine. He went away and wrote these poems addressed to the Ka’ba and God, in order to express this knowledge of their divine realties.”

Awartani has responded to this literature by creating eight hanging embroidery panels. They are intricate and meticulously patterned, hand embroidered by textile craftsmen in India, steeped in the study of mathematics. The patterns themselves come from the traditions of sacred geometry and the artist uses them to create genealogies of meaning that act as a form of meditation, praying contemplation and search for the inner spirit rather than outer. When hanging they create a perfect cube but are truly activated by light cascading through the stepped layers, carving out a meditative inner expression. 

As you view her geometric embroidered panels you are on the inside of an aesthetic experience yourself, one that shares with us a form of love. This is a kind of depiction rooted in historical practice, and in the rendering of the infinite it reflects Qur’anic and divine perfection.

Dana Awartani lives and works between New York and Jeddah. She has a BA in Fine Art from Central St Martin’s College of Art and Design Fine Art, London and a Master’s degree in Traditional Arts from The Prince’s School of Traditional Arts, London. Her work has been part of solo and group exhibitions at museums and biennales around the world.

Links: Website (danaawartani.com) | Instagram (www.instagram.com/danaawartanistudio/)

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