Coral Sun Series: Coral Sun

Coral Sun'by Zuleika Penniman is a powerful reminder that the Arabian Gulf is a site of congruence between man and nature, sea and desert, sun and the passing of time. By recycling and repurposing abandoned coral, Zuleika reintroduced them into a new phase of time, recalling its past in all its natural glory. Taking the light bulb as a metaphor for time, directing its light through the translucent geometry of the coral (the protagonist of this story), she exhibits the dualistic nature of coral; resilient yet delicate and ephemeral. Throughout her design process, she tested the physical limitations of the coral. The complex web of polyps and colonies in its structure allows it to be sliced to a thickness of just a few millimetres. As light passes through these thin slices, the dense rock becomes translucent and lace-like in appearance. Time, it would seem, lends the material both its strength and fragility. (Conceived and created during the Tanween design programme at Tashkeel)