Her illustrations frequently meditate on social injustice in the Middle East, with a particular focus on women’s rights. Duwaji’s work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the BBC, and at Tate Modern in the UK. In a 2019 interview, with she spoke openly about her struggle to pinpoint her identity, describing how she felt unable to fully connect with being Syrian, American or Emirati. That tension pushed her toward themes of body acceptance and embracing features that fall outside Eurocentric beauty standards. When asked how she hopes audiences interpret her work, Duwaji has said she wants her illustrations to make people “feel good” and not in a superficial sense, but by seeing themselves represented and accepted on a global scale.
Her simple, often black-and-white line drawings carry a quiet but pointed political charge. One shows a balaclava-clad woman reading a newspaper emblazoned with the words “uncivilised media.” In another, a microphone cord frames the image in the shape of a Moorish keyhole, a motif classically used in Islamic architecture. Elsewhere, her work turns devastatingly direct: a drawing of a Palestinian victim buried beneath rubble is paired with the words, “I am a 25-year-old Palestinian living in Gaza. My family and I were bombed by Israel. I want to tell my story of spending 12 hours trapped under rubble.”
Gracie Mansion in Manhattan, New York, courtesy of landmarksofny IG @landmarksofny
Duwaji’s commissioned work for the BBC in 2020 took an even more explicit approach to women’s politics in the region. The animation, bluntly titled Virginity Testing, tells the story of Esra, a former political prisoner in Egypt who was subjected to forced “virginity tests” during her incarceration. The piece is unflinching, but never sensationalised. Her ability to depict some of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises without overcomplicating the frame makes her transition into political influence feel natural rather than performative.
She cites Lauren Ash, co-founder of the mental health awareness podcast Black Girl in Om and artist Ashley Lukashevsky, whose work tackles equal pay, incarceration and immigrant rights, as key influences. Together, they hint at the undertones Duwaji may bring to her new role as First Lady of New York.