Abdu’s illustrative practice of anthropomorphized melancholic figures held a preoccupation with the way human beings negotiate inner territories; often exploring themes of the self, memory, home, mortality and immortality, with cursory gestures to the conscious and unconscious mind. Since 2017, her work explored strategies of embodiment, working into the plane temporal, spatial, emotive, and personal traces, whether in the meditative state produced by her painstaking, laborious process, or in the meaning of the materials she chooses. In her recent works, Abdu pushes her practice into sensorial mnemonic installations that invite the viewer into meditative and poetic processes of reconciliation and remembrance.
For Now That I’ve Lost You in My Dreams Where Do We Meet?, 2021, Abdu memorializes dreamscapes in solid soap structures inspired by the ritual of perfuming the body within the Islamic funeral tradition. She created a curved, latticework wall out of soap bars by mixing sidr and camphor. An attempt to negotiate with death and its ending of all memories.
The Infinite Now, 2022, comprises fifteen hanging pieces of paper in which Abdu attempts to draw a straight line using henna as her ink, a medium that symbolizes time by being affected by it. Through this act of repetition and surrender, the work in its totality is a documentation of the infinite now. In a related body of work, Abdu dissolves the agency of the artist by choosing to focus on the automatic movements of her hand as she draws. Rather than aiming to realise a preconceived composition, the artist allows the artwork to accrue over time from these repetitive, unselfconscious actions. Through these works Abdu explores the question, ‘Can transcendence be achieved through repetition, to reach an inner state of true self, separated from external distractions?’.
Abdu holds a Diploma in Graphic Design and Digital Art from the Future Institution of Higher Education and Training, and a Bachelor of Arts in English Language & Literature from The Arab Open University. In 2017 Abdu was an artist in residence at La Cité internationale des Arts in Paris, France.
Selected exhibitions include Amakin, curated by Ventia Porter, Ithra, Dammam, KSA, 2022; Artissima Art, Torino, Italy, 2021; I Only Meant To Visit, 21,39. ATHR Gallery, Jeddah, KSA, 2021 (solo); Zamakan, Ithra, Damam, KSA, 2019; and The Intangible Bonds in Our Existence, ATHR Gallery, Jedah, KSA, 2014 (solo).
Abdu’s work can be found in the BIC Art Collection.