My ceramic works reflects my Arab and immigrant identity, shaped by the enduring spirit of resilience. As a ceramic artist, I engage with clay as a symbol of both fragility and strength, much like the grit of immigrant families. The stages of clay represent a metaphor for the human condition—a psychology term defined by key life events that every person will experience, such as birth, joy, pain, morality, and death. In ceramics, the stages of clay are defined as plastic, leather hard, bone dry, bisqueware, and glaze ware, and every ceramic vessel goes through this on its journey to becoming a one-of-a-kind object.   

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As an Iraqi refugee, I explore my personal experiences as an immigrant in the United States as a vehicle for articulating the journeys shared by all immigrants. The pieces in this exhibition are a personal narrative within my family’s journey. I want to convey my aspects of my upbringing that are, inherently, not unique. The post 9/11 war on terror campaign left a nasty mark on the Middle East. Statistics estimate that between 37 - 57 million people were displaced from the Middle East, with most facing hardships like those that my family experienced when they immigrated to the United States. In the past twenty-five years, Arabs and Muslims have faced racist and discriminatory situation, such as racial profiling by law enforcement and airport security, as well as employment discrimination. These immigrant families, like mine, are confronted by hardships, such as food insecurity (see “What’s for Dinner?”), navigating the taboo topic of mental health (see Hug to My Younger Self), pushed to be perfect (see Perceived Perfection), and older siblings raising younger siblings (see Parentification). In these works, I display such intimate moments through texture, color, and form. In the work Hug to My Younger Self, I physically hugged the ceramic vessel once the cylinder shape was completed, thereby creating the organic shape. Additionally, I chose red glaze to depict the frustrations I had growing up and being required to suppress my native culture to assimilate into my new context. Now, as an adult, I am embracing my beautiful culture. In commemoration, I created art that showcases the traditions of my people, which often is misunderstood in the Western world.  

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By sharing my work at Otterbein University, a predominantly white institution (PWI), I share an upbringing that may be unique to much of the student body. I invite the viewer to reflect on their own experiences of identity and resilience, and to consider how we are truly not that different from each other, despite how the news media likes to portray Middle Eastern people. The adversity we face throughout life shapes us but does not define us. Through my art, I hope to create a safe space for conversations about belonging, healing, and the power of collective strength.