Nahem Shoa, Artist, Painter, London, National artist, Rising From the Ashes, Transformation, Renewal, Regeneration

RISING FROM THE ASHES
Transformation, Renewal, Regeneration

My current project Rising from the Ashes is inspired by many sources. In our society we discard things and are not concerned with the consequences. If we can transform our thrown out objects maybe there is hope.

Part One: PERSONIFICATION OF CIGARETTES

I have made drawings of the thrown away cigarette turning it into a quasi-religious relic. As a lifelong non-smoker I am playing with the discarded cigarette as a metaphor for things we once valued and now detest.

Part Two: SMOKE RINGS / HALOS

With the smoke rings my work has begun to look at environmental issues and how our daily lives affect climate change and what we as individuals can do to lower our carbon footprint. The smoke rings actually are images of carbon emissions from cigarettes or chimneys.

I have turned them into a halo, a symbol of transformation.The smoke rings are references to the halos surrounding the heads of saints in art and sculptural images, symbolising consciousness radiating beyond the physical body.

The Halo has been used in Christian Taoist, Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu, and Jewish religious imagery.