Facebook-1- Hend Al-Mansour Prints

She Thinks She Makes Art

A mandala like arrangement with mirror image double-self-portrait in the middle. The artist is holding
her brush as a fencing sword with which she is fighting herself. Geometric Islamic design in the center
juxtaposes the peripheral flowery henna design. Arabic letters F and N (Arabic for art) are calligraphed
at corners.
Eve
Eve, Adam, a cat, Satan, an ouroboros, Tree of Life, and God.
I have borrowed the fire halos from Islamic paintings of Eve and Adam. The frame decoration is also
inspired by Islamic art motifs. This print is still exploratory. a later version shows the word Eve in Arabic
at the bottom.

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Fatimah Abu Gahas: The Last Master of Qutt
Died in 2010, this folk artist and native of Asir in Saudi Arabia, had left a rich collection of the
traditional womens art of Qutt characteristic of Asir. In this print I made a portrait of Abu Gahas in the
middle of colorful shapes that imitate her style.
Khadijah "God be pleased with her"
This is part of the installation "The Great Mother of Islam". It represent the first wife of Prophet
Mohammed pregnant with her youngest child "Fatimah" the Mistress of Heaven. At the lower part there
are three large flowers that represent Khadija's older daughters. A fire halo, large and ramified,
encircle all.
Large size dictated printing in sections using stencils.
Arabian Mandala 8
Starting from the peripheries towards the center, elements of drawing are repeated here four times
along the four orientations of the paper. This is influenced by Jung collections of mandalas which he
used as keys to the psyche.
The Caged One or The Gum Chewer
This print is part of a body of work entitled "Green In The Market, Red In Mother's Hand". It depicts
traditional henna styles in Hofuf, Saudi Arabia, my home town. I have documented eight henna designs
by interviewing local women above 60 years. Prior to 1940s, the patterns were limited to a small
repertoire and were geometric, symmetrical, reproducible and had descriptive names. The name of
this design is "The Caged One".
In this body of work, I have paired the design with local folk tales told by women and usually were
stories that empower women. The story here is titled "The Gum Chewer"
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The woman facing the viewer is wearing an Abaya (Arabian cloak) and sitting on a rug woven in the
Bedouin style. Within a background of checkered pattern characteristic of Arabian men's headdress,
she is writing her story as an Arabic poem addressing her people in second person as her audience.