M’Shtona Windows
Anxious, nervous, turbulent, stormy, unstable, agitated.
The word “M’shtona” in Moroccan Arabic sums up these mental states, which this ongoing series navigates through glass windows and glue sculptures.
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Pipol Pleasing
Mixed Media on Glass Window (2024) 70 x 80 cm
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Pierre qui roule, mer se meurt
Mixed Media on Glass Window (2024) 70 x 80 cm
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Lysanxia vs. La voiture qui fait peur
Mixed Media on Glass Window (2024) 70 x 80 cm
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Maméduse > Taméduse
Mixed Media Sculpture (2024)
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L'BEZ
Mixed Media on Glass Window (2023) 70 x 80 cm
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Not All Choupinettes
Mixed Media on Glass Window (2023) 70 x 80 cm
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Motions
Mixed Media on Glass Window (2023) 80 x 90 cm
Motions
2023 - 70 x 80 cm
A story of love and steadfastness in times of crisis.
This window is inspired by the seismograph of the devastating earthquake that shook in Morocco in 2023, and pays tribute to the burst of solidarity that followed the event. It’s a reflection on compassion as raw instinctive energy connecting people in the most desperate times.
“The sand comes from Essaouira. I was there when the earth was still shaking, following the motions of love. Witnessing how its rippling effect transcends the ego and elevates us above the ground, like seismic waves. The color palette… not my usual. A reminder that solidarity is threatened and put to test at a time where the world is in dire need of compassion, love and justice. 🇵🇸”
Pierre qui roule, mer se meurt
(2024) - 70x80cm
Geology-inspired reflections on grounding, bystander guilt and steadfastness.
“Love and joy, like minerals, can build up through a slow, imperceptible process of sedimentation. That's the thought I had after visiting the Petra sandstone cliffs, which I left with an unusual sense of grounding. But then I saw the Dead Sea: across the lake, a place where no one is allowed to feel grounded. A place where an oppressive force is destroying whatever people are trying to build, crushing the very ideas of stillness and hope.
Amid such raging violence, I feel uneasy making joyful personal art. All I can express is my powerlessness and guilt at being allowed to grow and feel settled, when so many others aren’t. This piece tries to navigate those contradictory feelings, while humbly honoring those who resist and display steadfastness (صمود) in the face of atrocity. That's why I used salt from the Dead Sea: eternal sediments from a place people called dead.”
Pipol Pleasing
(2024) - 70x80cm
“People-pleasing is a rigged game. No way to win, no matter how much you twist and bend over to accommodate everyone.”
Not all Choupinettes
2023 - 70 x 80 cm
Variations on trust and the difficulty of knowing who deserves it.
“This window features an X-ray I took when I got bitten by a dog. As I started feeling unsafe around dogs after this, I thought about the notion of trust and how our perceptions of safety can change over time.
The red frame is made of flyers I made when my dog Timmi got stolen in Ethiopia. When this happened, many people had offered to help, but I thought "how can I know this person isn't actually involved in the dognapping?"... It’s hard to trust strangers in a world paved with all kinds of different intentions. Especially as a woman. This reminded me of a recurring nightmare in which I'm stuck in an ocean storm, and I can't tell if the creatures around me are dolphins or sharks.”
Lysanxia vs. la voiture qui fait peur
2023 - 70 x 80 cm
A tale of anxiety and relief, featuring fish and the United Nations.
“My nephew was obsessed with videos of spooky car races. One day, the evil laughs from one of these videos made me snap and breakdown. The army of doctors I saw were unanimous: I needed a break from everything. They put me on a cocktail of meds that made me drowsy and nauseous.
I had to keep working though. On a UN mission in Djibouti, I kept forgetting the meaning of the acronyms that were supposedly meant to solve the world's worst conflicts. The conference room had a view on the ocean, which sat quietly behind cargo ships and military bases. I daydreamed of Moucha, a desert island across Djibouti city, and discovered that a boat could take me there... In 30 min. I dropped my work, ran to the port like a madwoman and jumped on that speed boat, still wearing a suit.
As the engine started running and water splashed me from all sides, I let out a long, manic laugh. A lighthearted yet powerful echo to the scary monster-car laughs that had haunted me weeks before. Away from the conference world that I had just left, without cell network, I let Moucha Island's radically different atmosphere sink in and went for a dive. Deep slow breaths to get air from the oxygen bottle: I was breathing for the first time in months. The colorful fish dancing around me made me feel at peace. No acronyms there, and no jellyfish either.”