For many years, I travelled and worked in the humanitarian fields, because I always hoped to enhance the lives of those disadvantaged by inequitable systems. Over the course of my journeys, I was privileged to travel across south Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Japan. Numerous benefits have been assimilated as a result of my experiences, and I recognised how fortunate and blessed I was to have freedom, agency and some measure of prosperity. One of the things that has affected me the most is the systematically oppressive treatment that many women face around the world. Gender stereotypes, corporate trends, societal pressure and religious imposition have abrogated and nullified the individuality of numerous women across the globe. I am not trying to insinuate that these problems only exist in certain locations, however, it is more apparent in nations, which deliberately impose inhumane guardianship restrictions on their female population. There is an emphasis and a passion for many to empathically highlight the inequalities between men and women, as a result of insidious patriarchal systems. However, what strikes me the most is how we have forsaken the inner spirit of our souls in favour of temporary desires, which only leave us begging for more.
Although inequalities and impediments exist in all countries, to varying degrees, there is a prevalent and brazenly overt discrepancy in Saudi Arabia where women are legally categorised as the inferior and subordinate possession of men. Considering women are the fountains of life, I find this oppressive system abhorrent, believing that it represents the antithesis to nature, which is what sustains humanity. For these reasons, I decided to focus on a character that needed to conceal their true nature in order to survive the onslaught of judgement from society, family and culture. A plethora of misconceptions exist regarding Saudi Arabian women, but this character embodies the transcendent capacity of the human spirit.
Ink of Souls 
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