Our latest Instagram find is a true hidden gem. It is a genuine commitment to art's truly baffling nature - childlike in its simplicity yet lofty in its originality.

It’s amazing what one can achieve in life when and if given the opportunity, but it’s even more awe-inspiring when someone forsakes all the so-called necessities of life society implores us to acquire to pursue what they deem necessary and create their own opportunities along the way.

The above description fits Dina Amin like a glove. After studying product design and embarking on a career in the field, Amin’s life seemed all set up for her, like a dotted line for her to walk. “I did so many things; I studied Product Design in Malaysia, there I worked in a design organisation while studying, doing writing, research and organising design events. I worked as a product designer in Reform Studio for a year here in Egypt when I came back,” she recounts. Deep down, however, she knew we were not put on this Earth to fit into molds but to break them. “After a few months in Jozee Boutique as a Community Manager, I decided to play around to discover what I really wanted to do and thought I'd sort of document the process on Instagram,” Amin says.But playing around can be very time consuming, especially if it's the kind of playing around that produces stop motion footage befitting of a Hollywood blockbuster. “I just had to leave my job, so I decided to take a break before jumping to another 9-to-5 job,” she says.So what exactly does she do? She creates stunning visuals out of everyday items. Give her a door lock or a computer mouse and she will dismantle it and give you a robot or, if you’re lucky, a superhero! “I always liked opening products and seeing how they worked, but I didn't like that most things end up in the trash,” she explains. “So I just started by opening items every weekend and posting photos of all the inside parts, then started seeing characters, then stories, and bit by bit I started animating the pieces.”
Her sheer brilliance lies in her unique and quirky perception of objects. “I start by choosing a random object every Friday; I take it apart then just basically stare at the pieces till I see it!” she jokes. “But the key is to strip all reality from the mind and remove all labels that your brain perceives. A resistor, for instance, is not really a resistor, it's a tube, and a tube can be a leg for example.”Every Friday, the young artist tinkers with inanimate objects and brings them to life with her magic touch; the best part is that you get to join her on the ride through her social media pages, where she expands your imagination and opens up your minds to how limitless and infinite creativity and inventiveness are. Her little project, Tinker Friday, is a triumph of the imagination! We can see an Oscar in her future.