Description
When asked to describe the horrors she witnessed, her response was “ما رأيتُ إلا جميلاً”, I saw nothing but beauty, because even those tragedies were from and for Allah (swt).
This was the first project for my undergraduate printmaking course in 2020. I dedicated it to Syeda Zainab (sa), the granddaughter of Prophet Muhammad (saw).
Printmaking is the art of making reproducible art from prepared plates or blocks. This piece is a relief print, done by carving a linoleum block, applying ink, and pressing it onto paper (kind of like making a huge stamp). Everything I carved had to be mirrored, since whatever you cut comes out reversed on the page. So I spent hours carving backwards, thinking through every line in reverse while my heart was somewhere else entirely, reflecting on her essence.
As I carved, I kept thinking about the way she lived. Her strength in the face of tragedy and difficulty. Her steadfastness to her modesty. Her desire to only please Allah, not the people. I pondered, how should I cary my self today, in a way that would make her proud?
Presenting this to my class filled with peers who have never heard her name, was an honor. I wanted them to see, even briefly, who this woman is and what she defined as “beauty”.
السلام عليك يا زينب الكبرى
Original Medium: Relief Printmaking
