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Posted On: October 10th 2026, 10:44 am
Seven Nights
Acrylic on MDF board
60 × 90 cm
For most of my life, I grew up in a home where wearing the hijab was never expected. Modesty was taught, but the choice was always ours. Like many girls of my generation, I grew up in jeans, sleeveless tops, skirts, scraped knees, and all the freedoms of a childhood that never questioned those things. In short, I was a mascot for a Tomboy…and December 2019 happened and my world changed .. for the better.
In my quiet peaceful sleep, I found myself walking through an old brick tunnel covered in moss. Every shade of green seemed to live on those walls. I can still smell the wet smell of fresh and old moss. The tunnel stretched into the distance until, at the very end, stood a figure holding a piece of cloth.
The figure never spoke.
Never moved toward me.
Never frightened me.
It was simply there.
Night after night, the dream returned unchanged, like a single frame repeating itself. For seven straight nights.
On the eighth morning, I woke up and decided to wear the hijab. No explanations. no confrontations with the family.
That night the dream never came back. Till date.
Over the years, people have often asked me how my hijab journey began, especially since no one in my immediate family wore it. For a long time, I would simply tell this story. But somewhere along the way, I knew I wanted to paint it.
This work is that painting.
Nearly seven years later, I am still trying to figure out but no for certain that it was never just about a dream. This piece of cloth became a doorway into countless rooms, conversations, questions, challenges, and discoveries. I still find myself navigating the space between spirituality and religion, certainty and seeking which I don’t always have the answers to.
What I do know is that I am grateful that I found myself in that tunnel those seven nights.
.
#afreinnasir #hijabjourney #textureart #acryliconboard #personaldiaries
Acrylic on MDF board
60 × 90 cm
For most of my life, I grew up in a home where wearing the hijab was never expected. Modesty was taught, but the choice was always ours. Like many girls of my generation, I grew up in jeans, sleeveless tops, skirts, scraped knees, and all the freedoms of a childhood that never questioned those things. In short, I was a mascot for a Tomboy…and December 2019 happened and my world changed .. for the better.
In my quiet peaceful sleep, I found myself walking through an old brick tunnel covered in moss. Every shade of green seemed to live on those walls. I can still smell the wet smell of fresh and old moss. The tunnel stretched into the distance until, at the very end, stood a figure holding a piece of cloth.
The figure never spoke.
Never moved toward me.
Never frightened me.
It was simply there.
Night after night, the dream returned unchanged, like a single frame repeating itself. For seven straight nights.
On the eighth morning, I woke up and decided to wear the hijab. No explanations. no confrontations with the family.
That night the dream never came back. Till date.
Over the years, people have often asked me how my hijab journey began, especially since no one in my immediate family wore it. For a long time, I would simply tell this story. But somewhere along the way, I knew I wanted to paint it.
This work is that painting.
Nearly seven years later, I am still trying to figure out but no for certain that it was never just about a dream. This piece of cloth became a doorway into countless rooms, conversations, questions, challenges, and discoveries. I still find myself navigating the space between spirituality and religion, certainty and seeking which I don’t always have the answers to.
What I do know is that I am grateful that I found myself in that tunnel those seven nights.
.
#afreinnasir #hijabjourney #textureart #acryliconboard #personaldiaries
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