Yumna

The State of Decay
Mariam Dawood
School of Visual Arts & Design

Abstract

My Practice revolves around the idea of decay. The complexity of our material world was classified into elements such as earth, water, fire and air. My Process involves composing still life of these elements and capturing a certain moment in state of decay through photographs. These elements have been widely used as symbols and metaphors in spiritual and poetic literature and they hold different meanings and associations according to time and space, which instigated me to include them in my visual language. I also choose these elements due to their sensorial qualities as well as their interconnectedness as they create, nourish and destroy each other at times. I collect organic materials from my immediate surroundings such as water, cotton, debris, flowers and fruits and curate their process of decay in a poetic manner which allows the audience to derive their own meanings from the works.