A London-based artist has created a series of five abstract paintings inspired by the poems of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai.
Fatimah-Zahra Sacranie, 28, a Briton of Indian origin, is a full-time artist who creates minimalist abstract works made up of black lines on a white background.
The paintings, which she describes as her own “visual abstract language”, offer a balance between old and new, East and West, modernity and antiquity.
Sacranie, who has a degree in architectural engineering, has created more than 500 pieces inspired by literary works, including Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist and Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet.
Her artistic interpretations of Sheikh Hamdan's poems began "as a gut feeling". The five poems she chose are You and Me, The Distance, I Love You, Four Seasons and My Brother: The Word, which is her favourite.
“I first came upon the poems online, but they were in Arabic, which I can’t read,” she says. “Still, I felt I had to find out what they said, so I spent days searching the internet, trying to find the English translations.”
Inspired by the emotions that Sheikh Hamdan pours into his writing, Sacranie set to work using black acrylic on white wood.
“I cannot explain exactly how I translated these poems into abstract pieces,” she says. “But when you see my work, I think it is quite obvious for the viewer to understand. “For example, when Sheikh Rashid passed away, I could not get that touching photograph of the three brothers out of my head. Then Sheikh Hamdan released a poem. I read it over and over again. So as you can see, in the piece there is a visual correlation and it depicts what I felt in the lines as I read the poem.”
Sacranie is also a fan of Sheikh Hamdan’s social-media posts, which she says makes him an influential figure not only in the UAE but throughout the world. If she could meet him, she would ask for permission to translate his collection of poems into English and publish them: “That way others can enjoy his work and I could create more paintings based on his works”.
“I believe that after faith, food and shelter, being creative and showing love are very important for survival and happiness,” says the artist, whose next project will feature Islamic geometric artworks rendered in the vibrant, jewel-tone colours of India.
“Sheikh Hamdan shares and expresses his love by creating these poems.”
• Take a look at more of Fatimah-Zahra Sacranie’s work on her Instagram page @fatimahzahrasac
aseaman@thenational.ae