Sufi Path

Mixed media on wood or canvas

Sizes range from 8x6 inches to 46x23 inches- For more information please inquire.

2004 - ongoing

A decade ago, I started down the path of healing through spirituality. I was drawn to the Sufi tradition, and grew attached to the idea of the whirling dervish, their disconnection from the material world, and their quest for ultimate unity with God. Beside my initial aim for inner peace and growth through my Sufi Path, there was again a critical question of identity and displacement in the context of social relations. I painted myself as a dervish for many years, unintentionally touching on the anomaly of women as spiritual ascetics. In my research, I rarely came across women dervishes. When I added facial hair to the female dervish (my self-portraits), it took the work to another level of consciousness: questioning expectations of gender and both empowering and denying the role of women in the spiritual quest. By presenting myself in a traditionally male role, am I dwelling on the border of questioning patriarchy from a feminist perspective? Perhaps the work is more about the universal human condition, agency and the search for peace and freedom. In conversation with a female dervish, she enlightened me with her understanding of gender roles in the spiritual quest: “The dervish has no gender”, afterall.