Nature As A Muse, Amna Suheyl

Amna Suheyl creates prints and paintings of homes she has lived in, or has never had the chance to be in. Suheyl’s family’s history of migration related countless stories of homes abandoned, left behind, and homes still yearned for. Suheyl combines outlines of houses, from pictures and written accounts, to recreate the spaces once occupied by herself and my family as dreams; adding natural elements, water, plants and flowers, that represent resilience, beauty, memory and longing. 

“Nature becomes a way to symbolize and honor the lives of many families like mine, leaving homes and identities behind to embrace new ones. This work is a depiction of the unconscious connection I have with nature. I often use natural elements; flowers, water, wind, fruits and fauna, to depict the sublimity and regenerative aspect of nature. This is a dream; where these elements come together as a surreal, symbolic shelter that shields me from the chaos outside. Nature acts as a balm; the creatures that symbolize regeneration like dragonflies fly within, and fruits of femininity, pomegranates, remain protected within these walls. The outlined shape of the house is a recurring symbol in my work as well, that depicts the generic version of a house, holding different meanings for different people.”