Females’ Power of Words

Nigina Avazmuratova

Medium used: Acrylic on paper

Dimensions: 14x11.5 (inches)

Color symbolism

Yellow -  joy, happiness, intellect, and energy.

Turquoise - open communication, clarity of thought.

Green - growth, harmony, freshness, and fertility.

Purple - power, nobility, luxury, and ambition.

Red - energy, war, danger, strength, power, determination, passion, desire, and love.

Blue - trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven.

Statement

Women in the Arab World are perceived to be inferior to men in terms of their intellect, communication, growth, power, determination, and confidence. The colors used in the background refer back to the qualities that women hold and that lacking those qualities is a major misconception not only in the Arab world but in the World as a whole. Hence, the purpose of this piece is to send out a message that these misinterpretations and perceptions are slowly deconstructing in Islamic cultures as women are taking up significant roles in society such as Ministers and CEO’s, apart from their major roles as mothers, daughters, and sisters.

The Arabic letters in calligraphy styles that take up a shape of a female figure refer to women in the way that they communicate their speech. In other words it refers to the power of female’s words.

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Nigina Avazmuratova is an Uzbek who had been living in the United Arab Emirates for almost fourteen years of her life. Currently a Marketing student at the American University in Dubai, Nigina paints whenever she feels inspired. Taking Islamic Arts and Architecture inspired her to create a specific painting for her art project that is influenced by one artist that she has already done a study about and a new artist she was introduced to in one of the Islamic Arts classes.

The artist that she had done a workshop with is a UAE native Najat Meky and a new artist she got influenced by is El Seed, a Tunisian “calligraffiti” artist.

Below are some art pieces that Nigina painted that were influenced by Najat Meky.

The first piece piece was painted using acrylic graffiti paint that reflects the same concept as Meky’s artwork with implication of Nigina’s personal style and technique. Other than that she used a transparent paper to paint graffiti work on and then cut them into pieces and glue the pieces together to create a complete piece.

The second art piece was done during a workshop in the presence of Najat Meky using acrylic paint and a hair comb to create texture. Also, she used a thick flat brush to paint with and decorative red circles that were filled in with glitter to portray the patterns. 

The third painting was done using various media such as, acrylic paint, black ink, black felt tip, and mechanical pencil. It refers to different body shapes of females and their aspiration for perfect body. The painting compares female figure to a pear and a guitar amongst many other objects that women get compared to by be it men or other women. The purpose of the painting is to make women realize that an object can never portray one enough to show the pure beauty of women that first of all comes from inside. Some of the words in black ink are “perfect,” “beauty,” and “love,” and these words refer to women’s insecurities as well as what they seek in life such as having a career and a happy family.

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Influences’ Biographies

Najat Meky

Dr. Najat Meky is an acclaimed Emarati artist who holds a Ph. D. in Metal Coins from Cairo College of Fine Arts in 2001 and is one of UAE’s pioneering contemporary artists. Meky’s work focuses on the value of society, culture and tradition, where the female figures dominate her paintings. She is also a member of numerous cultural societies and organizations, including the Emirates Fine Arts Society, the GCC Art Friends Group, Al Jidar Fine Arts Group, and Al Iyab Fine Arts Society.

El Seed

El Seed is a Tunisian French “calligraffiti” artist who uses a blend of historical art of Arabic calligraphy and the modern graffiti to produce his pieces. He mixes the Arabic and French street culture to “poetic effect.” El Seed travels around the World to paint on the walls of cities, sending out a message of peace. Here is one of his art works on the right that says “My name is Palestine.”

Below are two artworks done by El Seed and Najat Meky that served as an inspiration to Nigina’s piece.

Art Piece

Inspiration

The following art piece is a combination of the above works to an extent. The background is similar to El Seed’s but the concept in Nigina’s art piece refers to the color bars that are usually seen on TV. The meaning behind the color bars is a TV that serves as media and how the media refers to females in the Arab World. It also implies how the concept of beauty is interpreted by media leading women to strive for “perfection” portrayed in magazines and on TV.

Arab and Muslim women are perceived to have less power in society due to society’s misconceptions about Islam as a religion. Also, Islam is perceived to restrict women’s freedom of speech. Hence, the Arabic letters that take shape of female figure imply this. The female figure that is shaped using calligraphic letters refers to women as a focus of this art piece.