Current - On going studio practice 

The artistic practice of Mariam Haji / Meri Helmi is grounded in paradox and transformation. Her recent sculptural works emerge from a desire to create eutopia a harmonious, imagined space where opposing forces coexist and inform one another. Through the delicate interplay of glass, Bahraini pearl shells, and resin, the artist constructs luminous forms that hold both fragility and strength, transience and preservation.

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These materials are chosen not only for their visual resonance, but for their symbolic and elemental contrasts. Glass is born through fireformed by intense heat and pressure, while resin softens and melts in response to heat, yielding rather than hardening. This dynamic speaks to the fluctuating nature of resilience and surrender in the human spirit, and reflects the artist’s ongoing dialogue between the bodily and the divine.

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Trained in the intimate, often visceral visual language of Mariam Haji, and now evolving into the reflective, transcendent voice of Meri Helmi, the artist continues to explore themes of sensuality, exile, and spiritual return. The pearl shells, sourced from Bahrain, become metaphors for inner transformation and cultural memory. The resin, synthetic yet luminous, preserves and suspends these symbols in states of becoming.

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Formally, her practice marries the restrained minimalism of Scandinavian design with the ornate intensity of Arab aesthetics, reflecting her dual cultural experience. This convergence results in works that feel both austere and opulent, contemporary and timeless.

In bringing together materials that respond differently to pressure and heat, Mariam/Meri invites us to reflect on the dualities within ourselves; what yields, what withstands, and what, through contrast, becomes whole.

 

These works are not simply objects of beauty, but portals into reconciliation, illuminating the higher, quieter truths within us all.