Kindergarden show and tell, i dressed as Winnie the Witch- from my favorite book at the time. Draped in an oversized witch costume, a burgundy wig -that I can still taste,- a tall black hat, and a matching cape my mother trimmed earlier that morning; adorned with a purple glittery spider web pattern that I’d trace with my tiny fingertips as i daydreamt. I stood there proudly in the middle of the classroom at 4 feet tall, drowning in my costume. I remember all the children’s eyes gazing up at me with smiles and raised eyebrows. Euphoric moment. The twinkly highlights and dreamy glow that paint the memory are immediately interrupted by M--- in the front row seated crisscross -apple sauce on a dusty persian rug. in an innocently mischievous six-year-old voice she says“That’s Jasem!?”.
I was offended.
She brought me back to reality, and I hated her for it. She ruined the illusion of the unearthly world-building that I had created. I, along with all the people in this overcrowded classroom had suspended disbelief and accepted that I indeed was Winnie, and not a six-year-old boy in a wig. Her logical - and hate to admit it - truthful, claim was so untrue to me.
That memory was so haunting that it’s now the clearest memory from childhood I can recall. I found myself obsessively dressing up as a witch every Halloween since - 5th grade was a gratifying year; when Mrs. N----- made me take my prosthetics off because I was “too scary for her to teach”.
I’ve now managed to make a profession out of this obsession.
Although I don’t dress up as a Witch anymore, I certainly still function as one. I use my art to escape certain hierarchies. Build my own stake. I dissect the haunting of existences. I emphasize the memory of Kuwaiti post-war trauma. I deal with the security around Liberations. Absorbing oral stories and research, I examine pre-colonial Kuwaiti mythology and rewrite narratives to trigger societal taboos. I’m addicted to de-censoring collective histories that shape current Kuwaiti culture; and bake them into maximalist artworks.
My artworks are giant puzzles. I employ a sense of surrealism that I use as security, and is undoubtedly meant to convince the audience of a reality that I construct; I challenge anyone willing to break it. It’s a surgical approach to baking. It’s methodical, it’s labor-intensive, it’s euphoric, dangerous, and delicious.