These seven paintings are my attempt to explore the beauty and dignity of women who have lost aspects of their freedom. It follows that the paintings are also about misogyny and sexual jealousy.
In some countries, men (and women) make women dress this way so they can control them.
Veiled, masked, hidden, with no face, women and girls dress this way for their protection, for their self esteem, for their religion, for their liberation, for their parents, for their safety, for their identity, for their non-identity.
The paintings are also about resilience and endurance. They are interpretations of a selection of images of women in burqas found online. I originally found thousands of images of women wearing burqa, when I searched the term 'abaya'. A friend had spent time working in Saudi Arabia a few years ago, and spoke about having to wear an abaya. I wasn't sure what this was; It turns out it can be a synonym for burqa.
This friend also mentioned funny, little things about how women forced to dress this way, tried to cope and get around in a modern world. There are laundry liquids that are kind to black fabric and won't fade it. There are signs next to escalators, warning women to be careful not to get their abaya caught in the machinery, and injure themselves.
Google images is mind-blowing. A search for burqa or abaya reveals pages and pages of images of women dressed this way. Who takes these photographs? I doubt some of these are authentic; some seem staged.
The first two paintings were done in 2013, and five more finished in November 2015. I wanted to achieve the impact of that image-nausea the online environment creates. The pop colours point to the commodification of the women, and the consumer culture which permeates every arena of life.
The colours are also my attempt to make something as oppressive as this, less threatening; I'm looking for some beauty, for some power. The colours bring the images into our Western world, and remind us that misogyny and sexual jealousy are not confined to just a few far-away lands.
