User:Habash eman/Saj Issa

Saj Issa, also known as Sajeda Issa was born in 1994, in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. She is a Palestinian American woman, who is a multidisciplinary artist, with two degrees. Despite being born in the United States, she maintains close ties to her Palestinian country and culture. This is because her parents fled their home during the 1980s intifada after being born and raised in Palestine. She has visited her Homeland Palestine, which inspires much of her artwork. Furthermore, Saj Issa is a well-educated individual who graduated from Webster University in St. Louis with a bachelor's degree in fine arts. Issa's artwork refers to the way indigenous people have always found a way to infiltrate colonizer civilizations. For this reason, she applies a well-known emblem to her ceramic tiles with that particular Islamic architectural pattern. Her artwork depicts an immigrant's struggle with their identity, cultural integration, and traditions.

Many of Saj Issa art work is placed on websites and museums to be displayed and sold. The first artwork is titled "Get Her Some Water." This image depicts a guy employee at a petrol station checking people out while hiding his face behind a receipt. In addition to the Seven Eleven logo, the background features titles that correspond with Islamic patterns. She illustrates how most Middle Eastern immigrant men work at convenience shops and how they are becoming less unique. Her artwork is a fusion of losing one's identity, and culture, and integrating the west culture. Additionally. She is famous for another piece of art called "The Ablution of Faith and Frustration," which is created by hand using ceramic tiles set into wooden frames. Saj Issa clarified that she was expressing the dissatisfaction that a person can experience through work, prayer, and devotion in this piece of art. Also, Saj Issa created another work of art named “Noman’s Land." Issa clarified how she utilized the title of this artwork to convey a sense of being outside one's comfort zone due to biased beliefs. Furthermore, in order to make the American flag fit and reflect her identity, she suggested that she added elements of her culture to it. Saj Issa added the keffiyeh pattern to symbolize removing the racism placed by the Trump propaganda in 2019. She further described how the news outlets portraying Middle Easterners as terrorists is permitted by Western media, is an inspiration for her art, and she intended to use her artwork to destroy that image. Her art demonstrates how she combines Palestinian and Western cultures while also using political and economic themes to highlight her problems with racism and identity.

Additionally, Because Saj Issa’s Father is an immigrant, he advised her to create something for herself to make her unique. Thus, Saj Issa continued doing her art whilst relating it to her roots, and emphasized the value of going to her own Palestine. But, she also expresses regret for those who are banished and can't go visit their homeland Palestine. Although she has been rejected from various galleries due to her art being Palestinian-driven, she did not let that stop her, but shifted her art elsewhere. Furthermore, Iss's artwork has relevance to the Gaza conflic t, as she clarified how her art unites people of various backgrounds and serves as a platform for expression and resistance. Saj Issa prefers to protest on her own terms, which is why she takes her art portraits on a pro-Palestinian protest when she attends. A portrait she takes with, and gives to individuals surrounding her, is the Poppy Flower. The reason for the Poppy flower portrait is due to it being the National Flower of Palestine. Because of this, it symbolizes Palestine, whilst expressing roots. Issa aims to create a movement where protesters begin to use the painting of the Poppy flower as a symbol of Palestine. This is due to her being anti-nationalism and flag representation, which allowed her to incorporate this poppy flower in her art non-state-political approaches to her identity. Saj Issa does some of her work in Palestine during the summer because that's where she gets most of her inspiration. She identifies herself as an art journalist, therefore being in Palestine helps her connect and get vulnerable. For instance, in the west, she had to be cautious about her artwork because of the censorship and its relation to Palestine. However, in Palestine, she was able to continue her art in its purest form. Lastly, Issa continues to create art that empowers her, and goes under her values, morals, and identity.