The Global Interior of Huda Hashim
With Bryan Mason. Photographs by Terica Bowser.
British born Sudanese artist, Huda Hashim, is an interior designer, 3D rendering and contemporary artist best known for her abstract works depicting life in Sudan. Huda was born in Liverpool, England, while her father was attending medical school. When she was just three years old, she and her family moved to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, a city known for its growing medical infrastructure, where she spent her formative years. During her time in Jeddah, Huda experienced a city defined by its cultural diversity.
As a teen, she would move again. This time to the United States after her father accepted a job in Dallas, Texas. The transition was difficult, she recalls, coming from a place where she felt culture and diversity were celebrated, to a country where identities are more rigidly defined. In Dallas, Huda grappled with the pressure to define herself in the narrow terms that American culture so often demands. Born in England, raised in Saudi Arabia, and of Sudanese heritage, Huda found it difficult to be labeled through only one of the cultures she had grown up with.
After years of questioning what her Sudanese heritage meant to her, in 2018, Huda’s connection with Sudan strengthened as she watched the east African nation’s cultural revolution unfold on television from her residence in Texas. In order to connect with a movement she desperately wanted to be a part of, Huda began creating art portraying iconic events from the revolution. Her most famous piece, “Street Spirit,” depicts the role of women in the cultural movement. The impact of the work was so profound that it became a cover image for Britain’s nearly 200-year-old daily periodical, The Guardian. And in 2022, she was invited by iconic American furniture brand, Crate & Barrel, to release an exclusive collection of her contemporary paintings inspired by her Sudanese heritage.
The artist has described her work as “a melting pot of compositional forms influenced by abstract expressionism and history,”a reflection of the many places she experienced as a child. That same aesthetic is wonderfully displayed in the 4 bedroom, Plano, Texas home that she shares with her husband and two sons. There, the decor is a mix of the cultures and stories Huda grew up with. “My philosophy is to create culturally, timeless, and livable spaces inspired by the art of storytelling”.
Her living room is both a trove and a book, a place for telling her story and for housing the objects that remind her of the best parts. “I call it the collectors room,” she laughs. “My cabinet holds the richest of items from my travels around the world.”
Extending from the living room, the contemporary, streamlined elegance of Huda’s dining room blends modern aesthetics with nods to her past. “This room was inspired by historic Sudanese palaces with red marble and sculptures,” she explains. At its center, the statuesque marble table, a 1970s European design purchased from a local vintage seller, was a perfect choice to create a space with a mix of cultures. “I love mixing African and European themes in this space,” she explains. “The juxtaposition of cultures, shapes and materials creates eye-pleasing and balanced compositions.”
Huda’s artwork can be found throughout her home as well. “The artwork in my home are pieces that were created to be the most raw and authentic version of myself,” she reflects. Dominating the wall behind her dining table is a work entitled, “Path to Light.” Painted in acrylics, it presents a broad, abstract landscape highlighted by its impressive length. An inescapable visual piece, it’s an instant conversation starter, partly because prints of the work are now widely for sale. “It feels cool to be able to tell people ‘this one is at Crate and Barrel.’”
Huda’s kitchen is expansive, with an adjacent breakfast room offering ample room for cooking, dining and even lounging around and soaking up the sun. “I love that my home has high ceilings,” Huda muses. “I love that it has an open concept and doesn’t feel claustrophobic, which is perfect for our growing family.” Functional, as all kitchens are, Huda’s has an extra air of livability due to its many additional elements. The long, sculptural legs of the bar stools fit neatly with equally artistic lighting, pottery and wall art to give the space the feel of a coffee shop or a small art gallery. “I grew up around art museums so I love the clean look of modern shapes but also warm, cozy and inviting.”
Sidling up to the kitchen, Huda nominates the breakfast room as one of the most used spaces of the house. “This is the room we use the most for eating, homework and art projects,” she offers. Designed specifically to be visually cohesive with the living room, the real benefit, Huda says, is in its logistical value. “My breakfast room is cozy, clean and most importantly kid friendly,” she smiles. “The CB2 Lola table has been a game changer for my family of 4.”
Huda’s is a home made for guests and entertaining as much as for the day-to-day activities of her busy family. And when the visits last for more than an evening, the home offers respite to weary visitors through this gorgeous guest room. A beautifully restful work of neutrals and earth tones, the room is highlighted by pieces such as the woven lampshade on the wood topped side table. Above the bed, a work of art, another of Huda’s originals, depicts the Djingareyber Mosque, a 14th century example of Malian architecture, which still stands today in the city of Timbuktu. “I love creating rooms that are very artistic and sculptural, elevated with North African cultural elements,” Huda says. “A perfect balance between colorful and neutral by playing with textures, shapes and natural materials.”
Huda’s art studio is a place for her to connect with her Sudanese heritage. As such, Huda took care in crafting a comfortable and aesthetic environment that reflects her artistic message. “My art studio has to be a place that is not only functional,” Huda relates, “but one that brings out all the creative juices I need when painting." To make sure her studio inspires her every time she steps onto the floor, she covered the floor with a particularly meaningful pattern. “My choice of this rug was inspired by the checkered floors of the University of Khartoum in Sudan, a place thriving with history and knowledge.”
In every corner of her home, Huda weaves together the threads of a life lived across borders, cultures, and histories. Her interiors, like her paintings, are deeply personal landscapes, blending memory, heritage, and modernity. Whether through a vintage marble table or a brushstroke on canvas, Huda rejects narrow definitions of identity that are so often prescribed, creating a living, breathing space that mirrors the totality of her life - born in England, raised in Saudi Arabia, an American of Sudanese heritage.
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