"Drink Sun/Ishrab Shams"

"Drink Sun” 2020, Acrylic and Pastel on Stretched Canvas Original (18x14’)

This piece highlights the words "Ishrab Shams" which directly translates to, "Drink Sun." This figuartive saying admires the sun as an energy source - for plants and people. This is an exploration and reclamation of indigenous roots and the melanin in our skin in the midst of imperialist influence. Bint No. 194 reflects on mama telling her to "stay out of the sun so her skin won't darken." She embraces her olive skin as a means to revolt and undo the programming of self-hatred and lessons instilled by colonial erasure. The papaya and cactus are motifs for what is birthed out of the touch of the sun - a nourishing sweet fruit, a resilient desert plant.