Back Story…
Asya Abdrahman is a concerned artist and entrepreneur who understands the relationship between culture, human rights and environmental protection. Born a Somali-Eritrian-Ethiopian, she was a child of conflict. Like millions of others, she walked with her family out of the abused geo-political East African landscape in pursuit of liberty. A recent generation African American, her projects are creative protests empowering at the root of family, community and humanity. Her work promotes cultural and ecological survival by bringing new perspectives and resources; human, natural, found, and recycled.
A second generation Muslim feminist, Asya Abdrahman was born in the same bed as her grandmother and mother, at the height of Ethiopia's Red Terror. Her mother's heroism saved Asya and her sisters from genital mutilation and established her life long commitment to peace and justice. In the truest progressive roots of the ancient cultures from which she derives, her children and other family are integral to her creativity. Current projects focus on combating violence against women in the forms of rape, child molestation and elder abuse. Additionally, a focus on sustainable housing and clothing design stems from her youthful observation that displacement of peoples above the ground is proportional to the unenlightened exploitation of the resources below it.
Asya Abdrahman is a naturalized American citizen since the 1980s. The Industrial Center Building ( ICB) of Sausilito houses Asya's studio. The studio serves as a "Shelter Bay" nurturing creative literacy and problem solving for communities of most need. Asya has said, "My work is a verbal and visual metaphor for rehabilitation and recovery. I paint my tears, my screams, my rage and outrage into something beautiful and moving. I make something from nothing. I attempt to do the same for the people I love. Rather than shout and cry about injustice, I strive to create a beautiful justice."
Asya Abdrahman is a Muslima Ambassador. To see more by Asya visit her website www.asyaabdrahman.com
