Title: Homing for the Void

Year: 2022

Media: Canvas, paper, acrylic, varnish

Size: 140 x 70 cm

About the void: Homing for the Void is a previously un-exhibited artwork which was part of a series of collages created for Pidge, an exhibition by Sophia Al-Maria at Project Native Informant in 2022. The show was an intimate meditation on themes Al-Maria began to explore in Beast Type Song (Tate Britain, 2019), including indefinite leave to remain, the right to return, and the question of what “home” means. The foundation of the piece is a 19th-century drawing of a traveler passing through Wadi al-Hammam, near the Sea of Galilee, pulled from an English-language book. Overlaid with deep matte black circles, the image evokes the erasure of memory, geography, and identity, particularly reflecting the ongoing displacement of Palestinians. The pigeons, potent symbols of home and return, are depicted here as “homing for the void,” endlessly circling toward an uncertain destination. This tension between longing for home and the looming of displacement mirrors the ambiguous journey of the eye across an image—whether it is returning, departing or finding purchase remains unknown. The work resonates with the broader themes of Pidge, exploring the unspoken, unsayable nature of exile and displacement.