“There is a charge, for the eyeing of my scars”*
There are some traditions in any culture that are
supposed to be beautiful. They seem beautiful in abstract;
but if you take a closer look you might be seeing awful
truths; Things that shake you to your very bone. They
can’t be justified by today’s human rights and beliefs; and
so they can’t be applied in modern life. But as we grew up,
watching people around us honoring them, we get used to
them. We are not able to see the consequences anymore.
As for our society these traditions play a certain rule in
people’s life. They can change a person’s destiny entirely.
For being accepted in the society, sometimes you have to
wear a mask;and sometimes this mask becomes a custom
that you have to put on for a life time. Then where is
reality of you‐self? Where is that person who wanted to
conquer the world? All those wishes and dreams are gone
in a blink of an eye; all lost!...
...Even you can’t remember that
your laughter have the power to thrill the world! You are
not able to smile anymore.
For us Iranians “flower and bird painting” could be a
metaphor of such traditions. This kind of painting is not as
old as “Negargari”; but they are old enough to be
considered a traditional form of Persian painting. The
birds in this kind of painting look so innocent that you
can’t believe that they might be able to harm a fly!
Drinking blood is not what they are supposed to do; and
that is not something that you could see at the first sight.
May be it is our fault to forget where should we stand. It is
not our place; not in the 21th century. So drink of my guilty
blood you pure birds; I am the sacrifice you need for
survival. And who I am except an ordinary woman who
gave up laughing to win the medallion of chastity; the
medallion that would shine forever on the top of my
grave.
“I say this woman. Holderlin, Mallarme, and all poets whose theme is the essence of poetry have felt that the act of naming is disquieting and marvelous. A word may give me its meaning, but first it suppresses it. For me to be able to say, “This woman”, I must somehow take her flesh and blood reality away from her, cause her to be absent, annihilate her.”
Maurice Blanchot-negation and the absence of language
Women have always been recognized by certain criteria through history. By their beauty, attraction, and sexiness which have been described by some characteristics. As Blanchot says the word “woman” gives a certain meaning to a human being. A creature that is much more than what world known her to be. “This is not a woman” series aim to show a new eroticism, to delete a woman as we know her and create her again. All the works are self-portraits, reflecting my very own feelings as a woman, my social limitations and my freedom of thoughts. In spite of the fact that most of these feelings are due to personal experiences; I guess they can be extended to the general situation of women in Iran and many other countries. How they’re objectified and….
