RIYADH — What if the earth could talk, and describes to us how it feels? Dr. Zahra Al-Ghamdi with her creation has made it possible to imagine what the land would say, and she has represented the earth's feelings in her artwork (Soliloquy) at Noor Riyadh. Speaking with Saudi Gazette, the Saudi artist Dr. Al-Ghamdi said that the reason for choosing the name of the work (Soliloquy) is because she felt that the earth was calling and asking people to return and deal with it in a better way. In her artistic work, Dr. Al-Ghamdi talked about the many and difficult crises that the earth has been going through during the recent time, as she embodied these crises by showing that the earth has completely turned into a radiant, thorny mass full of cruelty and dryness. The difficult crises that were embodied in the work (Soliloquy) is the bad treatment of humans with respect to the earth, as well as desertification, pollution, water consumption, and even wars, which resulted in the earth feeling that it has become poisoned while also surrounded by a mass of thorns that could harm everything around it. But it is not possible to live on this earth without a glimmer of hope, or a desire to improve the conditions that surround humans. Therefore, Dr. Al-Ghamdi has revived Soliloquy by adding several drops that appear, with lighting, as tears or as rain. Tears or crying is one of God's blessings, although some people believe that it is a weakness and shows human vulnerability, but in fact it is strength as crying greatly relieves the severity of the pain. And here, in Soliloquy, Dr. Al-Ghamdi placed drops of tears or rain so that they remove pain from the earth. The drops of tears and rain added by Dr. Al-Ghamdi also express that there is hope if humans deal in proper ways with the earth, which is also the hope that the earth desires. Dr. Al-Ghamdi said that she focused while using lighting in Soliloquy by creating it in a poetic language. As for the tools and materials that Dr. Al-Ghamdi used in Soliloquy, she indicated that she used the branches of the dead acacia tree, noting that it took her almost 4 years to collect these branches. The acacia tree bears many thorns, which helped her embody her idea through the artwork that she entered in the second edition of Noor Riyadh. Dr. Al-Ghamdi confirmed that her collecting of the acacia tree branches was not intended to make Soliloquy, but rather she was collecting it as a natural material and she was thinking of how to use it in another artwork. She also added that when Noor Riyadh was introduced, she felt that the acacia tree material would fully support her in conveying the message of Soliloquy's idea. "Noor Riyadh has given me the opportunity to create this artwork, and I basically like collecting acacia trees because it attracts me very much, as well as I love the thorns," Dr. Al-Ghamdi noted. It is noteworthy that Soliloquy is being displayed at From Spark to Spirit exhibition, which is part of Noor Riyadh activity, held at the JAX 03. It will run until Feb 4, 2023. It comprises 30 artists, about half of them international artists and the rest Saudi artists.
