Unearthing The Blue Atom by Alymamah Rashed.

Tabari Artspace: In this new body of work, you've introduced The Blue Atom as a central symbol. Could you speak to what the Blue Atom represents for you?

Alymamah Rashed: For me, the Blue Atom is the seed of the spirit—the origin point of our presence. It’s small, yes, but immensely powerful. It encapsulates something both minute and expansive, like the human condition itself. It’s a force that lives inside us, echoing the vastness of the earth, the cosmos, and everything beyond.

TA: The colour blue feels foundational to this project. What draws you to it?

AR: Blue holds immense symbolic weight across cultures. It’s tied to spirituality, the divine, and the infinite. For me, it carries the essence of calmness, inner truth, and a kind of sacred wisdom. Blue evokes the boundlessness of the sky, the depth of the ocean. It’s where the spirit moves—fluid, all-encompassing, and free. In The Blue Atom, I use blue as a physical manifestation of spiritual energy. It’s not just a colour—it’s a vibration, a field of being.

TA: Your performance work adds another layer to the conversation. Can you tell us about how you translate this idea physically?

AR: The performance forms a ritual. I begin with brushes, then turn to the body. I use my hands and feet as tools, as vessels. Each movement is an invocation. It’s a way of affirming that the spirit isn’t bound by the body—it lives through it and beyond it. When the blue pigment touches the canvas, it becomes more than material. It’s transformed. It is spirit made visible. The marks left behind—handprints, footprints—are gestures of that spirit, a trace of its motion through flesh.

Watch the full performance here.