the Gnawa Girl - WELDMA ART

the Gnawa Girl - WELDMA ART

This one is mid-motion — that's the whole point of it. She's caught in that moment during a Lila where the hair just takes over, flung up and around in this wild golden arc while her head is thrown back. Anyone who's seen a Gnawa trance session live knows that exact movement, it's almost violent in how free it looks.

I gave her hair these long streaked strands, blonde fading into darker roots, moving in every direction like it has its own wind. It was honestly the hardest part — I redrew the flow of it more times than I want to admit, trying to get it to feel like actual motion and not just messy lines.

Her outfit is a deep rosewood/maroon robe with a teal underlayer peeking through at the sleeves and hem — I wanted that combination because it's a color pairing you see a lot in Gnawa dress, but I also just love how blue and this rust-red sit next to each other. Right on her chest there's a big eye motif, kind of like a protective eye, something between an amulet and a talisman — I wanted it to feel like it was watching along with her, not just decoration.

The qraqeb are in both hands, mid-clack basically, and I added a thin gold belt with a matching round medallion to tie the whole silhouette together. She's barefoot with a small anklet, grounded on this pale, almost glowing patch of ground while the rest of the background dissolves into a deep space-like haze, sprinkled with little star bursts. That contrast was intentional — her feet are on the earth but everything around her feels like it's lifting off.

I think that's what I wanted this piece to be about, honestly. That in-between moment. Not quite present, not quite gone somewhere else either.

Created with love By WELDMA