Memory

This week ‘s post is dedicated to the talented young US-based Sudanese artist, Reem Alsadig, who was kind enough to tell me a little about herself and her art. Below, fascinating details from her pen and ink work, “A Date with My Memory”. Totems of Sudanese domestic life – earthenware pots, onions, and birds tenderly woven into a dream-like fabric of white-walled adobe houses and masked faces.

Learn more about Sudanese ceramics in:

Giving Form to Clay Sudan’s Women Potters Giving Form to Clay Sudan’s Women Potters 2

The Scorpion and The Coffee Pot

Reem explains: “A date with My Memory expresses what’s on my mind; usually my thoughts are messed up before I start drawing and whats happens is I gather all these thoughts into the drawing. I like what I think of as “irregular” drawing, so I like to include so many different things such as birds, pots, animals, faces, flowers and fantasy characters.”

See the complete work in:

A Date With My Memory

Below, details from Reem’s “The Sudan Wedding”. Here Reem captures the throng of the wedding procession, with its flowing robes, fine gold nose rings, turbans and tribal facial markings.

“The Sudan Wedding”, Reem explains, “shows the traditional, old-fashioned Sudanese wedding, with its jirtig ceremony and how the wedding party follow the bride and groom to their door, to bid them farewell before they leave for their honeymoon. I got a lot of enquiries from non-Sudanese when they saw the work, so I feel happy that I have managed to communicate something of Sudanese culture to the USA.”

Learn more about the wedding customs Reem talks about in:

Anointing in Robes of Red and Gold

“Who will trace the kohl for our eyes?”

The Rahat

“A Necklace of Shells from Distant Seas…”

Hair Braiding in Northern Sudan

When I asked Reem how she felt as an artist working outside her homeland, she replied;” Home, sweet home! I am always homesick, especially since this is my first time living away from my parents, brothers, my sister and Sudan. But this is new experience for me and I’ve learned a lot of things so far.The most challenging thing about living here is, of course, the weather. It is so cold in the USA!”

“My name is Reem Hatim Mohamed Alsadig. I was born and raised in Khartoum Bahri, Sudan. I realized that I liked drawing when I was a little child. I grew up in a home that encouraged hobbies and talents and when my parents found out that I liked drawing in kindergarten, they got me all the drawing materials I needed and it was they who motivated me to study art and choose this path to a professional career. After I graduated from University College of Graphic Design, I found my love for black and white and black ink drawing. After moving to the USA, I noticed so many differences in culture, weather, food, lifestyle and nature and these differences inspired me to show people in USA how we live and our culture through my art. I am a wife and mother.”

See more of Reem’s work in

https://www.instagram.com/reemalsadig2021/