By Aesha Erabti
1st Place Winner, Visual Art Competition, 2020 MSA LSC Unplugged
Editor’s Note: Muslim Youth Musings had the honor and opportunity to collaborate with the MSA Lone Star Council for their 2020 Unplugged Competition and publish selected entries in the categories of Performance Poetry and Visual Art following the theme of “Flashlight in the Dark – Faith as a Guiding Light in Times of Stress and Anxiety.” We congratulate all of the competitors and winners on producing high-quality work that is now being shared with Muslims across the world.
Aesha Erabti
Path to Righteousness, 2020
Acrylic on Canvas
Note from the Artist: My artwork features a dense forest with light shining a path down the forest floor. This light shining down from above is meant to represent the guidance from Allah. The dark forest around is the hardships and anxiety that are hard to get through, which is also represented by the thick, reaching roots. The path of light still gets through it and reaches all the way across the leaves and grass. I wanted the painting to have a warm and natural feeling to it. This is to show that every obstacle we face in our lives is part of who we are and meant to be and that it is often hard to tell what the right path is. But by the grace of Allah, listening to His word and guidance, we remain on the path to righteousness.
When I read this year’s theme, I immediately pictured a path alight in a dense forest. I often feel nature is a great way to relax and connect to our faith so I thought the forest would fit my interpretation of the theme perfectly. I used acrylic paints on canvas to bring my idea to life.
About the Artist
Aesha Erabti is a freshman at the University of Texas at Arlington. She has had a passion for art and expressing herself creatively her whole life. Though art was such a significant part of her upbringing, Aesha has always kept her art very private. After encouragement from family, Muslim Youth Musings seemed like the perfect first step in getting her artwork out there.
