The final design for this project ended up becoming quite different from my original plan. Initially, I redesigned the Moroccan Coat of Arms and implemented attributes of my partner into it and planned to carve that design into a flower pot. Instead, I decided to make my Moroccan Coat of Arms drawings into a 3D sculpture. The biggest aspect of my partner that I wanted to convey was her Moroccan heritage and how it changed her as a person. From what I learned about Morocco from Wiaam, they don’t treat women with respect and view them as lesser in society. To symbolize this, I painted the Moroccan Coat of Arms and cut an “X” shape into the middle of it. I then put a pink hand through the cut to make it seem it as though it is punching through the Coat of Arms. The pink hand, symbolizes feminism punching through Morocco’s discriminatory ways. The two characters on the side are characterizations of oppression (black) and freedom (white). The oppression character has his head down in shame, while the life character is staring up at the pink head in worship. Alternatively, these two characters also represent Wiaam’s struggle with stress and peace and how it divides her as a person. Next, the black rose that the hand is holding is suppose to symbolize the death that Wiaam has experienced in her life and how she has held onto the memory of those closest to her who have passed. Finally, I drew Wiaam’s name in Arabic on the banner of the Coat of Arms to show the viewer that this is suppose to be an avatar of Wiaam.
