I’ve been following this artist on Instagram, and found her art style so familiar since she creates niche, kitschy, maximalist art inspired by media circulated on Arab, African & South Asian family whatsapp chats that typically break all the rules of western design. She is fascinated by the maximalism and grandeur of Islamic art and architecture which “demonstrate[s] an infinite love for the divine”, and mentions this famous Islamic quote: “Allah (God) is beauty and loves all things beautiful”, clearly tying her religion and spirituality to her creative practice.

Her work oozes of ornamentation and colour. She also “highlight[s] [her] Sudanese identity and heritage” in her work. I wish to do the same but with my British Pakistani identity. However!!! ive wondered what can our “kitschy” style be when fused with western design standards? as a British Pakistani obsessed with information & systems , I’m so used to creating and using systems, so to create visual systems with patterns and motifs to support my message with Elawad’s approach would be excitng!!

Quotes pulled from her interview on everythingispolitical.com