Under the Oak Tree  

Sculpture installation, oiled black tow chain,  honey locust thorns, soil, 203 cm x 86Ø cm (80 in x 34Ø in), 2025

Maroun Tomb’s lost work, Under the Oak Tree, conjures a place of refuge, rooted memory, and returning to one’s ancestral earthly presence. Jabrah’s contribution explores what might be buried and sheltered under a tree, what holds strength and is transformed.

The inspiration behind this sculpture comes from burial mounds and wind chimes, referencing Jabrah’s time living in China, where graves are mounds of dirt with no tombstones or any hint of the deceased’s identity. This stark anonymity left her confronted with the ego death, where attachment to identity is released, yet stands as a reminder of the thousands of unmarked graves in Gaza that stand as unidentified mounds. Though the materiality may be simple and organic, the work imposes complex questions about life and mortality.

Jabrah’s own observations of wind chimes carry a nostalgic sense of tranquility and inner peace as they interact with and dance with the surrounding air— yet the installation is overshadowed by an uneasiness that sits in tension with the calm spirit of stillness. The artist beckons the viewer to pause and be still. The oak tree represents solitude in nature, a surrender to where stillness and death coexist in the same breath.

Iman Jabrah holds a BFA in New Media from the New Kentucky University School of Art, an MFA from the China Academy of Art in Hangzhuo, and was awarded the Lin FengMian Bronze Award at the prestigious Zhejiang Exhibition Hall. Jabrah touches on themes of women, migration, grief, danger, care and healing– often working in found materials that imbue with her life experiences. She has exhibited internationally, served as Researcher-in-residence at the Praksis and Peace Research Institute of Oslo, and received the Artwave Truth and Reconciliation Grant to curate a show at the Cincinnati Art Museum.