At 28, Rama Duwaji will be the youngest first lady New York City has ever had - thrust into the spotlight as her husband Zohran Mamdani won the mayoral race on Tuesday night.
And in his victory speech, the mayor-elect had a special shoutout for his wife standing beside him.
"And to my incredible wife, Rama, hayati," he said, using the Arabic word for "my life". "There is no one I would rather have by my side in this moment, and in every moment."
Duwaji is a New York-based artist with Syrian roots whose work often explores Middle Eastern themes. Her work has appeared on BBC News, and in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Vice and London's Tate Modern museum.
"Rama isn't just my wife; she's an incredible artist who deserves to be known on her own terms," Mamdani wrote in a post on 12 May, announcing they had been married three months earlier.
"Omg she's real," Duwaji joked in a comment on that post.
The couple met on dating app Hinge, "so there is still hope in those dating apps," Mamdani said in an interview with The Bulwark.
Until recently she was rarely seen during her husband's election campaign, leading opponents to claim that the 33-year-old state assemblyman was "hiding" his wife.
Her absence was notable, given that US candidates often put their spouses on full display to show off their commitment to family values.
Mamdani addressed the criticism over his wife's absence in his May post, which included a series of photos showing their marriage at the New York City Clerk's office.
"If you take a look at Twitter today, or any day for that matter, you know how vicious politics can be," he wrote.
"I usually brush it off, whether it's death threats or calls for me to be deported. But it's different when it's about those you love.... You can critique my views, but not my family."
Duwaji opted to stay out of the spotlight - even as her husband's profile ballooned - but is said to have been a driving force behind the scenes, according to CNN.
She was among those who finalised Mamdani's brand identity, including the bold iconography and font used on his yellow, orange and blue campaign materials, it said.
Despite largely steering clear of the cameras, several of Duwaji's friends have gushed about her in interviews amid speculation about her role in a Mamdani administration.
"She's our modern day Princess Diana," one friend, Hasnain Bhatti, declared to the New York Times last month.
Others described Duwaji as being excited but overwhelmed by the growing attention, the NY post reported.
Duwaji graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University before earning a master's degree in illustration from the School of Visual Arts in New York City.
"Using drawn portraiture and movement, Rama examines the nuances of sisterhood and communal experiences," Ms Duwaji's professional website reads.
Much of her work is in black and white, and depicts scenes from the Arab world. Ms Duwaji herself was born in Texas and is ethnically Syrian, a campaign spokesman told the New York Times.
In 2022, her works appeared in the BBC World Service documentary "Who killed my grandfather" that investigated the assassination of a Yemeni politician in 1974.
Some of her works listed on Instagram criticise "American imperialism," what she called Israeli war crimes and denounce the "ethnic cleansing" of Palestinians, mirroring some of her husband's policy positions. Israel emphatically denies accusations of genocide in Gaza.
Her works also show support for Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate that the Trump administration is seeking to deport over claims that his work advocating for Palestinians amounts to "antisemitism" towards Jews.
The Brooklyn-based artist spent most of the coronavirus pandemic in Dubai, where her family lives, she said in an April interview with website YUNG.
In that interview, she was asked about recent events in the Middle East, the return to the White House of Donald Trump and sharp uptick in immigration raids.
"I'm not going to lie, things are dark right now in NYC," she said. "I worry for my friends and family, and things feel completely out of my hands."
"With so many people being pushed out and silenced by fear, all I can do is use my voice to speak out about what's happening in the US and Palestine and Syria as much as I can," she added.
She was also asked about the responsibly that artists have to speak out about global issues.
"An artist's duty as far as I'm concerned is to reflect the times," she said, quoting musician Nina Simone.
"I believe everyone has a responsibility to speak out against injustice, and art has such an ability to spread it," she continued.
"I don't think everybody has to make political work, but art is inherently political in how it's made, funded, and shared. Even creating art as a refuge from the horrors we see is political to me. It's a reaction to the world around us."
