The date palm has a commanding presence. This slow-growing tree is arching, waxy, forms a grand crown at the top of the tree, a cluster of pale  yellow flowers appear in the spring and give way to the sweet oblong fruit, growing together, collectively, thriving in sandy desert, creating oasis. The pomegranate grows alongside the date and is celebrated with a holiday, symbolic of sanctity, abundance and faithfulness. 

 

A date is an overpriced, shrivelled fruit at a grocery store. A hard-pit you are unaware exists.

  

Sand is a cold beach covered in tossed cigarette butts, or  what you spread over snow so you don’t slip in the winter.  

 

Pomegranates  blend with blueberries to prevent cancer. Their juice is bitter alone. The seeds stick in your teeth.  

 

In the middle east you feel the weight of human history. These pieces were made  with nostalgia in mind; re- learning the land, the food, and the aesthetic of my cultural home.