A key theme in this series is identity and femininity, the palm tree stands as a nostalgic and significant memory for the artist being of Egyptian heritage she associates the tree with the Nile and the romanticized past glory of Cairo’s urban prosperity in the 1950s and 60s. While growing up in Europe she spent time in Frankfurt and Paris’s botanic garden having seen the palm tree a reminiscent of Egypt in Europe she felt the tree signified a connection with memory and identity. 
 In addition, palm trees function as key symbols in biblical histories as well as the date fruit given by the palm tree is a significant aspect of survival and life in the desert, a location where the weather is dry and harsh. The date serves as a resource of nutrition and survival. Tawakol’s series of palm trees are hand stitched and the backgrounds are hand dyed in gridded patterns formed through a traditional Japanese technique called “shipori” resembling a fence behind the tree. 
The relationship between the palm tree as a textile component and the appendaged stuffed sculptural element of the date are interlinked together with a fabric rope symbolizing an umbilical cord and the relationship between mother and child signifying the creation of life and themes of parental and motherly sacrifice in order to revive a child as an extension of one’s body and spirit.