Being in the World

Fitrah

My work brings the viewer into an experience of the three major stages in building a connection with God based on the teachings of Islam. It aims to depict and share the beauty and depth behind this connection and allow the viewer to find correlation between their own values and the ones being portrayed in my work. The first stage is depicted through a projection of a fractal of a geometric design that has the Arabic word Adl incorporated into it. This word means absolute justice and in Islamic teachings refers to the system of absolute justice carried out through nature in its harmony, balance, and symmetry. For there to be patterns obvious to us and at deeper mathematical levels as proven through the self-similarity nature of fractals leads us to understanding that there must be a Higher Being with great wisdom who created and maintains it. This recognition and the overall composition of the video allows us to realize our place in context with the rest of the universe and acquire the characteristic of humility. The next stage is the blockages between the first and last stage of connection that we must fight through with sound reasoning and the goal to attain closeness with God. What gets us through this stage is remembering that God is most forgiving, and we can keep returning to Him, as we are His creation, He loves us and the only thing that could hinder the relationship would be on our part. The last stage is a place of comfort and balance between the physical and spiritual whereby we are aware of our physical surroundings but also understand how our spiritual understanding and values can guide us through life. We have an awakening moment where all the doors seem to open at once and we can find purpose in everything. The waves of water painted on the inside of the hexagonal structure are a stylized form of the Arabic phrase Subhan'Allah, and the word Subhan comes from the root letters S B H from which all other words allude to a sense of swimming and gliding. From this we see that when we feel God's presence and connect with Him, it is as if we are gliding through life.