Barren Spring II , 2024
Frankincense infused glass sculptures in Abandoned Pool.
Commissioned by KBH.G
Frankincense infused glass sculptures in Abandoned Pool.
Commissioned by KBH.G
Sea of Tears, 2023
40 Frankincense infused glass sculptures, 2 Channel Video, Sound
Commissioned by Noor Riyadh 2023
40 Frankincense infused glass sculptures, 2 Channel Video, Sound
Commissioned by Noor Riyadh 2023
Barren Spring, 2023
Installation, audio, frankincense infused glass sculptures, dye sublimation on fabric.
Commissioned by KBH.G
Barren Spring is a multimedia installation that uses glass sculptures, and photographic prints to investigate the folklore of Ain Adhari, a desolate natural spring in Bahrain, through the lens of mythology, eco-feminism, and oral histories. Although dried out since the 1980s, Ain Adhari remains imprinted in the collective memory of those who witnessed it at its most fertile. Having heard stories of the spring without personally experiencing its vitality, I draw upon my own imagination to recreate the site as an anthropomorphized female body. While there are a multitude of stories about the site, I was most drawn to one in particular: The Myth of the Maiden of Adhari. This cautionary myth recalls the plight of a young maiden who is menacingly approached by a strange man in a palm tree grove, and consequently wails in fear until her gushing tears are metamorphosed into an eternal, mythical spring.
Barren Spring reimagines the metaphysical transformation of Adhari from the virgin’s physical body and into a body of water as a three-part narrative, composed of sculptural glass tears and photographs printed on silk polyester fabric. The 13-frankincense enclosed glass sculptures, a metaphor for the maiden’s tears. The sculptures are arranged at different heights throughout the space to orient viewers towards a suspended, transcendental moment in time that foreshadows the alchemy of tears transforming into an oasis. As the viewer weaves through the glass sculptures, they are haunted by the silence and loss that remains of the present day spring, until finally arriving at a suspended photographic print of my imagined take on the mythical site.
Installation, audio, frankincense infused glass sculptures, dye sublimation on fabric.
Commissioned by KBH.G
Barren Spring is a multimedia installation that uses glass sculptures, and photographic prints to investigate the folklore of Ain Adhari, a desolate natural spring in Bahrain, through the lens of mythology, eco-feminism, and oral histories. Although dried out since the 1980s, Ain Adhari remains imprinted in the collective memory of those who witnessed it at its most fertile. Having heard stories of the spring without personally experiencing its vitality, I draw upon my own imagination to recreate the site as an anthropomorphized female body. While there are a multitude of stories about the site, I was most drawn to one in particular: The Myth of the Maiden of Adhari. This cautionary myth recalls the plight of a young maiden who is menacingly approached by a strange man in a palm tree grove, and consequently wails in fear until her gushing tears are metamorphosed into an eternal, mythical spring.
Barren Spring reimagines the metaphysical transformation of Adhari from the virgin’s physical body and into a body of water as a three-part narrative, composed of sculptural glass tears and photographs printed on silk polyester fabric. The 13-frankincense enclosed glass sculptures, a metaphor for the maiden’s tears. The sculptures are arranged at different heights throughout the space to orient viewers towards a suspended, transcendental moment in time that foreshadows the alchemy of tears transforming into an oasis. As the viewer weaves through the glass sculptures, they are haunted by the silence and loss that remains of the present day spring, until finally arriving at a suspended photographic print of my imagined take on the mythical site.
Submerged, 2023
Archival Inkjet Print on 44x24 inch
Archival Inkjet Print on 44x24 inch
Adhari Mythopoeia, 2022
Serigraphy Print on 50x66 cm Paper
Adhari Mythopoeia is a serigraphic photography series that investigates Ain Adhari, as a site of overlapping mythologies. Adhari, a natural spring in Bahrain, is a landmark freshwater spring in Bahrain that has dried up since the 1980s yet remains imprinted in the collective memory of those who witnessed it at its most fertile. This site carries a lineage of associations with different folktales, historical accounts, and ecological intervention or lack thereof - leading to its continued significance and sentimentality in Bahrain.
Alsaie recalls hearing about the mystical oasis through her grandmother, however, without having experienced it in its vitality, she draws on different accounts and her own imagination to recreate the site as a fictionalized entity. The work contemplates the mythological curiosity of the site, particularly its alchemic properties that have been linked to several folktales. Alsaie uses the serigraphy method to transform the photographs into a series of manual utterances, an attempt to capture the hearsay of the folktale itself. Treading fiction and reality, satire and artifact, mythology and memory, the photographs invite a critical lens to popularized Bahraini folklore and the legacy of Adhari as a now non-existent/ defunct site.
Serigraphy Print on 50x66 cm Paper
Adhari Mythopoeia is a serigraphic photography series that investigates Ain Adhari, as a site of overlapping mythologies. Adhari, a natural spring in Bahrain, is a landmark freshwater spring in Bahrain that has dried up since the 1980s yet remains imprinted in the collective memory of those who witnessed it at its most fertile. This site carries a lineage of associations with different folktales, historical accounts, and ecological intervention or lack thereof - leading to its continued significance and sentimentality in Bahrain.
Alsaie recalls hearing about the mystical oasis through her grandmother, however, without having experienced it in its vitality, she draws on different accounts and her own imagination to recreate the site as a fictionalized entity. The work contemplates the mythological curiosity of the site, particularly its alchemic properties that have been linked to several folktales. Alsaie uses the serigraphy method to transform the photographs into a series of manual utterances, an attempt to capture the hearsay of the folktale itself. Treading fiction and reality, satire and artifact, mythology and memory, the photographs invite a critical lens to popularized Bahraini folklore and the legacy of Adhari as a now non-existent/ defunct site.
Channel 18
Channel 18 is an ongoing research project that explores the aesthetics of memory, its preservation, and its afterlife. Having learned that a portion of the 1976-1977 Bahrain Television Archives was burned in the 90s, I began an intensive exploration that questioned the sociopolitical timelines and creative possibilities offered by this absence. In 2021, via the support of Salama Art Foundation Residency in Abuhdabi, I produced a multimedia, site-specific installation presented as an abandoned national television control room that includes; video, sound, photography, collage, and text. I interject elements of fiction through staging the immersive environment as an experiential artifact and repurposing audio-visual documents to be examined with scrutiny.
Installation, Collage, Photo, Video Projection
2021-2022, Abudhabi, UAE
With support from SEAF Residency
Channel 18 is an ongoing research project that explores the aesthetics of memory, its preservation, and its afterlife. Having learned that a portion of the 1976-1977 Bahrain Television Archives was burned in the 90s, I began an intensive exploration that questioned the sociopolitical timelines and creative possibilities offered by this absence. In 2021, via the support of Salama Art Foundation Residency in Abuhdabi, I produced a multimedia, site-specific installation presented as an abandoned national television control room that includes; video, sound, photography, collage, and text. I interject elements of fiction through staging the immersive environment as an experiential artifact and repurposing audio-visual documents to be examined with scrutiny.
Installation, Collage, Photo, Video Projection
2021-2022, Abudhabi, UAE
With support from SEAF Residency
