Visuel meditation:
Psychedelic Kaleidoscopes (Mandalas)
Ongoing series in progress since 2014
# XV = Coco de Mer

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Edition: 90 x 60 cm 3 + 2

Ready to hang: UltraSec® Museum Glass, numbered & signed
Print only: Hahnemühle Fine Art Print / Ultrachrome HDR pigmentink,
 numbered & signed

Please ask for details.

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Interview for Wakeupscreaming edition Trees August 2018

Who are you, what do you do, why do you do it?

My name is Nabiha. I have been a passionate photographer for almost 30 years and I am one half of the artist couple Unity Art Nabiha & Thom.
Thom and I began working together in 1997 when we fell in love in our early twenties.

My passion for photography is deeply rooted in my intense love and fascination for nature and the uniqueness of our existence on this wonderful planet.

When I was about eleven years of age I had several powerful moments of realizing the infinite beauty of the earth.
At the same time I became aware of the destruction and abuse mankind does to this home of so many species.

One year later, when I seriously got into photography, it became my vision to show this magical beauty that surrounds us to as many people as I could reach. My motivation is that my works – which are mostly inspired by nature – first amaze the viewer and then inspire him/her to take (more) responsibility in protecting „our“ wonderful planet earth.

Please describe your relationship with trees:

I am in love with trees. Trees are life! Trees are our lungs! I feel deep admiration for and gratitude to every tree (really any plant).
Sometimes I find myself silently greeting a tree, speaking to it in my mind and simply thanking it for being here.
Sometimes I wish I could really talk to a tree and listen to its knowledge and experiences from up to several hundred years.
I also feel protected around trees.

The health benefits of being in nature are now known from a scientific perspective.
The way we live and behave towards nature affects us all – and it seems many have lost this connection.
Not knowing and not caring where ones´ food is coming from,
how its production affects both nature and human health is just one example of this disconnection.

I believe that more and more people have a strong desire for reconnecting with nature,
because breathing clean air is not only good for our body,
but being comforted by trees also soothes the mind and makes us feel at peace.

I strongly believe the world needs more trees.
We urgently need to repair the damage we have made and restore forests and
especially keep away from the still intact natural habitats that are left!

Every (human) being should be able to breath clean air, drink clean water, and eat healthy food.
From this base we could really evolve as a species.

I do not understand the short sightedness in the way limited resources keep being exploited
for greed and profit maximization. We are sawing off the branch we sit on.

I believe that everyone who consumes consciously has a little power to support change.
You are what you eat – and how we eat affects the whole planet.
Everyone can decide with every single dish if he/she wants to keep eating away the rainforests.
We need to understand the global effects of our local decisions and realize how everything is connected.

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Please tell us about your submitted work, what inspired them etc?

I have always been fascinated by the mesmerizing effect of a kaleidoscope and by the geometric symmetry of mandalas,
because both can inspire the eye to another level of seeing, to another level of perceiving – another consciousness.

My own photographs of trees and other plants are the base for these layered and mirrored images.

It has become a new habit of mine that by creating a new Psychedelic Mandala
I kind of break free creatively when a phase of intense work load of commissions is completed.

I allow myself to get rid of any artistic pressure and expectations, browse through my archive –
and play with many layers of depth for the eye to wander around. It is a form of visual mediation.

Are you able to tell us about the tree’s involved, are these trees from South Germany?

Psychedelic Mandala 2014 is a very old blossoming cherry tree in my grandparents´ garden in Wuerzburg in southern Germany.
I ate cherries from this tree when I was a child – and I am very happy to be able to still do so today.

Psychedelic Mandala 2018 Wunderbaum (Rhizinus) is also from Wuerzburg and from one of my favorite places in the city:
the Botanical Garden. Beware, it is very poisonous!

Psychedelic Mandala 2018 is from a Juniper tree in Sedona, Arizona.

What are you working on at the moment?

Several projects. Just connect via Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/nabiha.thom) and
Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/unityart) and see what comes up next.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

• celebrate life ! *, #saveplanetearth and thank you for being interested.