Year: 2019

Materials: wood, steel, coal, lacquer
Dimensions: length of 5 meters, height of two meters, width of 1.2 meters

This sculptural installation was commissioned by the Sharjah Islamic Art Festival 2019 and will be exhibited in Sharjah Art Museum in December 2019 - January 2020.

 From far away the sculpture appears to form a large, suspended ellipsoid. Solid silver shape glimmers and sways gently with minor movements of air in the gallery. As view moves closer, they find that the silhouette consists of nineteen individual circles, or moons, arranged by volume, with the largest balanced in the middle and successively smaller circles towards the two ends of the object. Created with lunar phase in mind, the sculpture celebrates consistency, balance and light of this celestial body, a recurring motif in Islamic arts. 

Hollow circular incisions within each of the round moons speak directly to the “Prospect” theme of the Festival. Perfect circumference of each circle in juxtaposition to the hollow space within suggests change and potential. It is akin to the two ends of moon’s journey across the sky – from a faint sliver of silver light to a proud shimmering disk. The “Moon on the Celestial Equator” is a body in motion. Every circle stands for a journey full of hope and prospect. The constellation of nineteen moons forms a larger, tangible shape that represents the progression of time itself and the prospects that it brings. The element of chance is present in the way the surface of the sculpture captures and reflect light in soft glimmers, sharp sparks of glare, or through quiet metallic shimmer. 

This sculptural installation draws from the tradition of Islamic art, that is frequently characterized by the use of geometric patterns and repetition for intelligent storytelling through patterns. A smooth succession of silvery disks is an interpretation of the arabesque motif widely used in Islamic architecture, ceramics and carpets. The surface of each disk, covered with thin aluminum, displays lattice geometric pattern, a historically major feature of carpet design in 17th century Turkey and Persia. 

The ordinary and the surreal come together in this sculptural installation to challenge viewer’s perception and push the boundaries of 3D reality. Ready-made home objects, a rug and a table, are altered by the artist and compelled to interact with each other.

Artwork’s title, “90°”, is a reference to the geometric nuance of the artwork. The carpet makes a right angle with the surface of the wall behind it, which means that a strict visual alignment and symmetry of shapes can be achieved by viewers from a singular focal point.

An extraordinary marriage of the everyday things speaks to a wide audience, and propels the idea of “three-dimensional art and society”. A playful art object is born to challenge the laws of physical reality, tradition and design conventions. The carpet climbs the wall and the small table flashes a woven surface while blending into the patterned background. Individual objects shed their original functionality and meaning to take on new significance as a unified sculptural work. As viewers, we are inspired to seek that coveted angle that makes the sculpture whole, and contemplate complex authenticity and surprising flexibility of representation.

Year 2017

Materials: charcoal

The artist draws from landscape topography of Maya Lin’s monumental land art and Marina Abramovich’es performance art to create a meditative study of the desert environment. An outline of the human figure drawn in the sand stands for an anchor and suggest a newly created sense of place.

Year: 2017

Materials: acrylic, aluminum, cement, wood, crushed glass

Dimensions: 201.5” x 127.5” (512cm x 324cm)

Winner of the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Award 2017 under the patronage of Sheikha Shamsa Bint Hamdan Al Nahyan and in partnership with the Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation.

Rooted in the typographies of the earth, the DUNESCAPE takes inspiration from what are known as “linear sand dunes,” which are long and thin in shape, and oriented at a parallel with the direction of the wind. Designed as perfect squares, the panels signal with their shape the grounded, resilient nature of the desert and its inhabitants. The straight lines and right angles of the tanks contrast with natural variation of the sand curves within them.

The sculpture stands as a monument of landscape architecture, and serves as a reminder of our immediate surroundings just beyond the cities’ edge. Artist’s intention in this piece is to initiate a private dialogue with every viewer, and provide a refuge for meditation and contemplation. 

This sculptural installation was designed and built in three months in consultation with engineers and in collaboration with a team of fabrication specialists.

“Strictly Decorative” is one of a series of 10 participatory artworks produced by NYUAD artists as part of the Open Studios 2019 event. Viewers are challenged to help create temporary sculptures by placing their bodies in interactive relationships with everyday objects. The artistic objective is to reestablish participants’ association with (and thus understanding of) an object and/or space by asking them to hold specific poses for sixty seconds.

For this “living” sculpture participants are to forsake comfort and practicality to embody a flower vase for 60 seconds. In a sitting position with both hands clutching a bouquet of flowers on top of participant’s head. Hands form a perfect “O” as vase handles. With flower stems firmly rooted on top of their head, a participant stays still and concentrated on becoming one with the plants.

Anna produced illustrated instructions for her own and for eight other sculptures.

Year: 2019

Materials: Stoneware and high fire glaze

A collection of ceramic vessels hand thrown on the potter’s wheel and high fired by the artist.