Mourning II

Cotton thread, hand-dyed with indigo, stitched on indigo-dyed paper, 50x57 cm.

A stylised form of the word حداد (Ḥidād, Mourning) is repeated in an abstract pattern intended to evoke an explosion. But at the heart of this explosion is darkness, pushing out the light.

This piece is stitched with cotton thread on Arches paper, both dyed in different shades of natural indigo in my studio. In Palestinian embroidery, once widespread in the Middle East, embroidery of dark blue on dark bliue was used to signal mourning. This is part of a Mourning series, my response to the endless bad news and heartbreak of the past year in particular, acknowledging the grief caused by every loss of life or cultural heritage. But the point of it isn’t to underscore the bleakness of this moment in history. It’s that mourning is essential. We mourn because we love, and because we know the value of what is lost. That is itself a light in the darkness.

More info & photos: https://majnouna.com/portfolio/veilsofmourning/