As a painter, I’m inspired by the activism I photograph as a photojournalist. In my paintings below, I use a mix of my original photos and acrylic paint on canvas to tell the stories of key figures in popular protest movements. The painting pictured below titled “Rise Iran” features photos from the Mahsa Amini protests in Washington D.C. in 2022 and 2023. Mahsa Amini was a Kurdish-Iranian woman who was killed by Iran’s morality police for having part of her hair showing in violation of the mandatory hijab law in Iran. Amini’s death launched massive protests in Iran and across the world. Protesters are calling out the brutality of the Iranian regime and demanding freedom and equal rights for all. I painted Amini as the main subject of the painting because it was her defiance and unjust death that launched the new women’s liberation movement in Iran. The rallying cry among the protests is “women, life, freedom,” which is why I decided to include these words at the top of the painting.
The painting pictured below is titled: “Black Lives Mattered Always, Black Lives Matter Forever.” I used my photos from Black Lives Matter protests from 2016-2020 in Austin, Houston, and Washington D.C. This painting was featured in the 2021 political art exhibit at the Houston Holocaust Museum called, “Withstand: Latinx Art in Times of Conflict.” The main subject of the painting is activist Sandra Bland (her face painted with acrylic in the middle). Sandra Bland died in police custody in Texas in 2015 and her death sparked mass protests nationwide. Most of the photos I used in this piece are from a protest on the 2nd anniversary of Sandra’s death, where her mother (pictured in the white hat and long dress) was the main speaker and led the march to the Texas Capitol in Austin. The banner underneath Sandra’s face says “Martyr of Freedom” in Spanish and Arabic, and the banner below the photo of Sandra’s mom says “tears of a mother” in Spanish and Arabic.
As a visual storyteller, the ability to research and bring important data to life in the digital media landscape is a very important aspect to my work. Below are examples of my research and infographic designs I created for Wishbox Media based in Amman, Jordan. At the bottom of the page is an interactive map I produced on media outlets in Jordan. The project gives you background information on some of the country’s most popular media outlets, including which are independent, and which are government-controlled.