My work on Portraits has been an effort to learn about women all over the world. When I started working on this piece, Somalia was in the news and it made me want to learn more about the women who lived there. I was struck by the elegant simplicity of some of their traditional dress.
To create Ubax Qurux Badan, which means “Beautiful Flower,” I chose the wood species for their warmth. They had a richness and beauty that complemented each other.