In this work, Daou uses paper, graphite, and gesso to spell out the phrase “am I alive, are you alive, is this living.” The piece was inspired by Daou’s reflections on her birthplace, Beirut, in the aftermath of the Lebanese Civil War. The work is inspired by her study of the mosaics in the National Museum of Beirut. The sense of seeming endlessness is what captivates Daou in this medium, through which she tries to capture not archeological objects, but rather, the voices of people. These small fragments are in no way ‘set in stone’ but rather encompass dynamic pieces of the present and past that can be renegotiated at any point. The question in this mosaic possesses a sense of urgency and meditativeness, asking viewers to
consider difficult personal and political questions that affect us all.