Artist Statement

I started painting over ten years ago as a freshman in high school. I experimented with many styles until, in my last year of college, I began working almost exclusively with the inverted stamping technique that characterizes most of the pieces that I share with you here in my online gallery.

With the inverted stamping technique the foreground, or the "stamp", surrenders itself to the background in orderfor the Arabic calligraphy to be seen. The necessity of surrendering the ego in order to create beauty within one's self and the world is emphasized throughout the teachings of all great spiritual traditions,
from Sufism to Buddhism. In my work I seek to capture the magnificence
that inevitably results when one is able to tame the self, even if it is only for a fleeting moment.

Although in each one of my pieces the colors, textures, and Arabic calligraphy dance on the canvases inunique ways, all of my work comes together to echo the same message. Generosity and empathy, if practiced, can unite all of humanity, especially in this time of great social, cultural, and religious conflict. Even though our world is growing further and further apart, we can put the pieces back together if we first learn to let go of ourselves.

Artwork by Rabea Chaudhry