Description
About this piece:
Scroll of Stars is a scroll-based artist’s book that explores the connection between dreams, protective symbolism, and celestial constellations, tracing how visual language can bridge the spiritual and physical realms.
The scroll is composed of individual cyanotype-printed fabric patches, each one featuring sacred invocations, mystical symbols, seal markings, magic squares, and celestial references. These patches are carefully sewn together into a continuous strip, forming a tactile, flowing surface that invites intimate engagement. The act of stitching echoes practices of care, repair, and ritual embedded in textile traditions.
Housed in a custom-designed box, the scroll is paired with a cover inspired by celestial maps and sacred texts. This enclosure shows the piece’s ritualistic nature, encouraging viewers to slowly unroll the work, as if revealing a protective incantation or cosmic script one fragment at a time.
Materials:
fabric, paper, fabric, cyanotype, book board
About the artist:
Lives and works in Cairo, Egypt
Islam is a book artist and lecturer of bookbinding at the German University in Cairo. He earned both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Art Education from Helwan University, and later pursued an MFA in Book Arts at the University of Iowa. He went on to complete a Ph.D. in Teaching and Learning with a concentration in Art Education at the University of Iowa.
His practice lies at the intersection of culture, technology, and aesthetics. Drawing on historical bookbinding traditions and integrating digital technologies, Islam reimagines the role of the book in contemporary art.
