H.M.Arafat
Can you introduce yourself and tell us how your artistic journey began?
My name is Halima and I go by the name of H.M.Arafat. I am a Palestinian Poet/Illustrator currently residing in London. If I have to be honest my artistic journey started from when I was just a child. It’s one of the earliest things I can remember. Having the desperate desire to express myself and an even bigger desire to understand how to do that. So, just like many artists it has taken many years, iterations, and trialling out different types of art styles and revenues to get to where I am today. It is how I can process and understand the world around me, as it never ridiculed me or excluded me, but rather provided me a lens to all the emotions that were hiding beneath. The only space I think I ever found where I belong.
What ideas, experiences or emotions inspire your artwork?
My artwork is inspired by absolutely everything so it is so hard for me to put it into a list. I don’t limit my inspiration to engage with only art or writing. The best way to articulate it is that it reflects my experience of the world. From the minuscule to the extreme. I can be inspired by something as simple by how the trees move, a song, an anime, a movie scene, or the difficult such as friendship breakups, heartbreak and familial grief. I hope in this way it encapsulates the polarity of life.
How would you describe your creative process and the materials you use?
My creative process is entirely spiritual and intuitive. I never force it. It starts with the poetry. I’ll have an experience or an idea come to me and write it on the notes page. Sometimes I get the call to write it straight away, or I understand that it needs more time to simmer at the back of my mind. I always play a piece of instrumental music that I believe matches the emotional capacity of the poem to help better connect with the flow with the idea. Once complete, I then draw out a sketch of what that poem looks like and then start making it. The process of the artwork again is completely intuitive; I pause and let the idea tell me what it wants to be. From the colour choices to even the visual of the poem which I sometimes struggle to understand until the end where it makes sense. I always trust it. I stay out of the way and simply act as an instrument for the idea to come through. It is something I am grateful for as I believe it all comes from God, and is simply something I have been trusted with to bring into this reality.
Is there one artwork that is especially meaningful to you, and what is the story behind it?
It will always be the first piece ‘The Tale of Starting again.’ As that was what started this specific journey of the ‘Tales Series’. I also believe it wholly captures who I am as a person. All my life I have always been lucky to have a window next to my bed, and all my life regardless of all the trials, tribulations and celebrations, I have spent looking outside the window and at the sky with the desire to understand. Seeking the strength to carry on and trust in the flow of time despite my own fears regarding the future. Even today I spent some time looking at the window in an effort to clear my mind. It’s strange we are built to live on earth, but it is looking at the sky that I feel most home.
What are you currently working on, and what do you hope to explore in the future?
I cannot fully say everything that I am working on as parts are yet to be released and announced! I am very much excited! Now, I am still in the midst of creating my own brand identity and simply working on gaining more exposure! Engaging with galleries and museums, but also people with my ‘dear stranger’ letters. In the future, I hope to have a market stall where I can sell my work. I am also a coffee lover, so I would love to one day have a coffee collaboration! I think to push myself next I also am going to try and aim and take part in spoken word events!
