Zeinab Saleh is a Mixed Media Master
We recently wrote a blog about Sara Gulamali, one of two artists who helped photographer Lamisa Khan create the brilliant Muslim Sisterhood portrait series. The other artist was Zeinab Saleh. As we soon discovered we loved her work, too, we promised to give her a solo feature as well.
Being a website of our word, here it is.
Zeinab Saleh is a student at the UCL Slade School of Fine Art. Similar to Sara G, she uses mixed media to create work that contrasts iconography we’d associate with notions of a ‘modern West’ – we’re talking the Apple logo, Nokia bricks from the mid 2000s, memes – with designs steeped in Middle Eastern culture.
For a start, we are unreasonably fond of this 3310, where the standard keypad has been swapped out for a dozen images of classic memes:
Does it have a greater meaning about digital culture? The human condition? Brexit? We don’t know. But whatever the case, we would gladly trade in our smartphone to own one of these Nokia icons.
Saleh’s work really shines when it captures the intersection of different cultures. She is adept at taking a more traditional Middle Eastern form, like calligraphy, and positioning it on an incongruous object or space.
Like this:
Or this:
Check out some more of Saleh’s work below:
Saleh’s ability to bring different worlds together in her work reveals a memorable, unorthodox style. We love it.
Be sure to head on over to her Instagram and smash that follow button.
Shakeel is a Pakistan-based artist who left a career in dentistry to create contemporary collages that subvert the images you’d find in glossy fashion mags.
The next young Muslim artist you need to follow on Instagram is Farwa Moledina, a fine art student in Birmingham who creates immersive, soulful portraits.
Things We Should Ban Instead of the Veil’ includes stuff like cigarettes, early morning alarms and…raisin cookies?
