I worked on this project with themes of women's identity, place, and cultural perception within alternative processes, specifically cyanotype prints. Grounded in both conceptual inquiry and visual storytelling, my practice examines the liminal intersection of imagination, emotion, and the photographic image.
As an artist, I wish to state that the culture from which I hail and the experiences we share are common to us all; we are inhabitants of a single universe. The oppressive and crushing history—witnessed by societies in which women live under male domination—continues with full force in a region where minorities are engaged in a struggle for survival. In response to all these anti-freedom acts, people have developed various symbols. One such symbol is a lock of braided hair—severed by a man in the Rojava region to assert his claim of ownership over a woman. As a geographical link, the orchids housed within the Denver Botanic Gardens—the venue where this portfolio will be presented to the public—serve as elements that reinforce this theme.
Braiding hair has always been a promise of life, a meaning of freedom that never dies—orchids with specific meanings often centered on femininity, grace, and fertility. I'm making their visuality ideal for celebrating women.
