Shatha Khalifeh — Morning Glory

Written by Yonka Werner. Published on 14 July 2022.

When the first rays of the day’s sun hit its purple leaves, the Morning Glory unfurls and its large funnel-shaped flowers seem to grow before your eyes. When the sun sets again, the flowers also close and remain until the next morning, waiting for the new rays of sunlight, which they literally reach for. The reason for this is the chemical auxin, which is released when sunlight hits the plant cells and stimulates their growth. But because the light reaches the inner petals less, these cells stay the same and force the flower to close when the light is gone. Morning Glory’s counterpart is called Evening Primrose. Its flowers are very short-lived, opening at dusk and usually fading by noon the next day. Root pieces, especially encased in epoxy resin mixed with fluorescent dye, are reminiscent of blood vessels that supply the body with the blood it needs to live. The roots of a plant also supply it with nutrients and thus help it to grow and develop flowers. In advance of the INTERFERENCE exhibition, Shatha Khalifeh collected parts of these special plants from the garden in her home in Amman, Jordan. These were to become the experimental basis of her work.

The collected material was placed in small moulds reminiscent of petri dishes and filled with epoxy resin. In some cases, fluorescent colour was added to the epoxy resin, creating an incredible effect. The plant parts hardly seem natural any more or as if they were actually in the resin. It creates more of an x-ray impression. Shatha Khalifeh planned to continue these workflows in Tunis and to create different effects with the help of light sources and arrangements in her exhibition room. When she arrived in Tunis, not all the materials she needed to continue where she left off in Amman were provided. With the support of helping hands from the artists’ accomplices and the production team, a compromise was created that would not only correspond to Shatha Khalifeh’s concept, but also arrange itself to the conditions of the space.

This Plan B turned out to be extremely effective. The sample works the young artist brought with her were digitised by filming them. She used magnifying glasses, light and movement to capture the different effects on the colours and the plant parts on film as well. The video works were then projected onto the walls of the courtyard of Dar Ben Achour, the library in the Medina of Tunis. From there, one enters three other rooms, which were provided with niches and were semi-actively used. Thus, two niches contained bookshelves and chairs, while in a third niche the works brought by Shatha Khalifeh were displayed while beeing illuminated from the side. The niche with the segments that form the basis of the video works was slightly hidden so that a moment of discovery could be created. The main focus since the decision to rethink was on the video works anyway. Even though they were shown in the dark, if you looked closely you could see that the courtyard was tiled. The colourful tiles had floral patterns. The actually unsettled background fits thematically into the work and the use of natural material or the depiction of it.

Both the library and the work “Morning Glory” can be understood as archives. The library preserves books, words, knowledge and the epoxy resin segments preserve parts of plants and thus also the knowledge gained through engagement with them. Shatha Khalifeh does not only want to point out the magical processes that nature produces, which seem to be forgotten in our everyday life. She also wants to draw attention to connections and processes that can be recognised in human existence, thus also representing a connection between humanity and nature. In her past, the young artist worked as a civil engineer, which had a lasting effect on her interest in such processes and experimenting with different materials. In her works, she uses this knowledge and explores it in a creative way.

The resulting installation allowed the visitors to see the actual small plant parts in a new light. Light plays a big part not only in the theme of the exhibition, but also in the work of Shatha Khalifeh, since it helps to highlight the hidden details that play a part in the process of responding to light. In addition, the light from the sun and moon is needed to set in motion the breathtaking processes that underlie the plants and which affects them. Thus the light becomes a mediator between the natural and the unnatural here.

Filming the works also brought about a change of perspective. Are the plant parts excessively large, or are we very small and close to the ground like insects? The magical effect already underlines the work “Morning Glory” conceptually, considering the special abilities of the plants used.

The digitalisation of her work therefore seems like a contradiction and a symbol at the same time. But this in no way diminishes the impact of the impressive images on the viewers. “Monring GLory” as part of the INTERFERENCE exhibition of and with up-and-coming artists was perceived as a strong work whose poignant and atmospheric effect seemed to touch people. Thus, in the presence of the artist, there was an unforgettable encounter with a 15-year-old visitor who almost began to cry while being in the library’s backyard. He approached Shatha Khalifeh and told her that he had encountered these plant parts in exactly these arrangements and perspectives in his dream. The artist not only found this moving moment motivating, but it also confirmed her in what she is doing.