Acrylic on Canvas 30” x 40”

Motherhood is a beautifully complicated, never-ending story of love + hardship.

Its beauty can be fogged by the daily stress, fatigue, and often loneliness. Our village-less, modern day world makes it even more challenging. As a mother living far away from my village, I would call my own mother daily, asking her how she got through it. Her response never waivered, nor changed: my Tasbeeh. 

Tasbeeh is the muslim transcendental meditation. It’s a specific form of dhikr (remembrance of Allah) that glorifies God with two small, yet mighty words: Subhan’Allah. It’s often done by using a rosary, repeating ‘SubhanAllah’ hundreds and multitudes of times at life’s difficult and ease-ful moments alike.

This painting is about the rosary, the strings, the beads, and the countless moments of Tasbeeh that I went through to find my way back to see the joy in motherhood. It’s finding back all the colours that were grayscale by the daily tests. The painting is an invitation and a loud cry to call in joy, however it may manifest.