"I began by roughing the edges, her face still gentle, smiling into the distance. I tried to enter further into the burlap from several sides but eventually figured I would have to go right into the middle if I wanted as many tears as I had imagined. I took a nail off my desk and begun unweaving sections of the burlap leading closer to her face. As I approached her head the burlap became much harder to rip, the thick paint resisted my pull. I progressively became more aggressive with the fabric, just as the predator is aggressive with his female prey. I tore into it using my whole body; slowly her face began to unravel. She became weaker. At parts where I had already penetrated a hole, the burlap submitted to dethreading. As I got the hang of it I actually took scissors to assist me. Tools of assassination. During the process of dethreating all the connotations that came with the missing women, I experienced through clear visuals and overwhelming emotions. I pictured the metaphor as if I was there, tearing her skin apart, torturing her… I feel a strong connection not just because of an artists visual mind, or an activist, or an empathetic societal minor, but most importantly a violated woman, attempting to fight back."
live journal entry, 2012
mmiw
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women
Acrylic on Burlap
A series of portraits in honor of the Missing Indigenous Women of Canada. Originally created in response to the Robert Pickton court case of 2012, and displayed again in solo exhibition in harmony with the MMIWG final report of June 2019.
Jodhpur, India
Oil on Paper, 2013
invisible cities
italo calvino
“Arriving at each new city, the traveler finds again a past of his that he did not know he had: the foreignness of what you no longer are or no longer possess lies in wait for you in foreign, unpossessed places.”
Green City
Watercolor on paper, 2014
portraits
Majid Tavakoli
Acrylic on canvas, 2012
60 x 60 cm
The human rights activist and political prisoner was taken away for motivational speech, ridiculed by pro-government news with a release of a photo of him in traditional religious female dress as punishment. This leaked image of him went viral when male supporters around the globe wore female dress and posted selfies in solidarity.
Palestine
Acrylic, dremol and glass on mdf wood, 2012
60 x 150 cm
Portrait of a boy and abandoned landscape of the Gaza Strip post bombing.
Unassumed
Oil paints on wood, 2013
90 x 60 cm
Original image captured during a mural painting with youth at PRERNA Social Development and Welfare, New Delhi.
Processing Body
Oil on canvas, 2020
Love, Loss, Decay.
Oil on paper, 2015
Mehran Palace
Oil on wood, 2013
20 x 30 cm
She gazed right into me with her glass eye
Pride
Acrylic on wood, 2015
122 x 122 cm
This rice farmer near the southern border of Burkina Faso labors daily to provide for his family, and their families.
Riot Police
Watercolor on paper, 2013
60 x 90 cm
Original picture taken at the 2009 protests of Iran.