There is a haunting beauty in the way London-based, Bahraini artist Zayn Qahtani builds her world. For instance, one work made from abalone shell and paper pulped from Bahraini date palm trees shimmers with an almost talismanic presence, its materials carrying the weight of land and sea. In another, she uses the symbolism of a siren to express her frustration with periods of vision loss. “Living in an age that fetishises perfection and the constant pursuit of a ‘dream life’, many people elevate only their happiest moments while pushing aside the ones that are just as human – grief, loss, yearning and mourning,” she says.
