For Iranian artist Arghavan Khosravi, portraying hair in her paintings has become emotionally charged. She posted a video on Instagram in early October where she brushed across the canvas to create fine strands of hair.
“Nowadays, when I’m dyeing my hair, I’m filled with anger and hope. More than ever,” she wrote in the caption.
She added the hashtag #MahsaAmini to the post, the name of the 22-year-old who died in Iran’s capital, Tehran, in September after being arrested by the country’s morality police for allegedly not wearing her hijab correctly.
Amini’s death has since catalyzed protests across the country – many of which have seen young women and girls cutting their hair as a form of defiance – and her name has become a rallying cry on social media.
Khosravi grew up in a secular family in Tehran after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, when a new theocratic regime introduced oppressive rules for women, including mandatory hijab, or headscarf, in public.
“From a very early age I realized that there is this contrast between his private spaces – his house – and the public spaces. At home, you are free to do whatever you want,” said Khosravi, who is based in Stamford, Connecticut. “You learn to navigate this double life.”
Khosravi also had her own experience with the morality police in 2011 and was temporarily detained, she explained. Based in the US since moving in 2015 to study painting, the former graphic designer uses long, flowing hair as a symbol in her metaphor-laden works.
His surreal, dreamlike portraits of women, which appear on multi-paneled surfaces reminiscent of architectural facades, were influenced by the flattened perspectives and meticulous detail of Persian miniature paintings.
Some of his latest work is currently on display at Rockefeller Center in New York until mid-November, while his first solo museum show recently ended at the Currier Museum in New Hampshire.
rich symbolism
Women in Khosravi’s paintings are often portrayed as tied by ropes or hidden behind walls, flowers or hands, in what she describes as a struggle for autonomy. However, they have a dominant presence.
She contrasts ropes and handcuffs with expressions of freedom, like doves. With lush colors and radiant areas in which his models’ body parts seem to glow, Khosravi’s works are not somber but luminous.
“Contrast and contradiction are key concepts that I am exploring in my work,” she said, pointing to the dichotomies in the lives of many Iranian women. Red or black threads recur in her paintings – they appear around her figures’ fingers or wrists, sewn over their closed mouths or protruding from their eyes – sometimes as painted lines, other times as physical ropes hanging from the canvas.
“I was thinking about my memories of Iran,” she said. “There are a lot of red lines that are imposed on us by the government.”
Since the protests erupted in September, Khosravi has seen hair become a powerful symbol as women cut theirs, in protest or in solidarity, and burn their hijabs in the streets.
“Women, cutting your hair is an ancient Persian tradition. […] when fury is stronger than the power of the oppressor,” tweeted Welsh-based writer and translator Shara Atashi in late September. “The moment we have been waiting for has arrived. Politics fueled by poetry”.
Real world reflections
In “Cover your hair!” (“Cover your hair”), a painting Khosravi recently shared on social media, shows a woman dangling from her torso by a long piece of red fabric, her long, dark hair wrapped tightly in the material. Stylized Persian soldiers on horses wrap wires around her body in a poignant image of suppression.
“I have battlefield scenes where soldiers attack women. And now, on the streets, we see videos of these security forces (and a) level of cruelty as they attack protesters,” she said. “I have some visual metaphors […] but now they are literally happening.”
But Khosravi hopes her themes will represent not just the experience of Iranian women, but of any woman whose rights are threatened.
“Something in common among all [as mulheres nas pinturas] is that they are about the same age as me, or their hair color or features are, to some extent, similar to mine […] it’s because I’m thinking about my own story and other women who have gone through the same,” she said.
“But at the same time, I don’t want these characters to be too culturally specific. So anyone in any corner of the world can relate to his works based on their own experiences.”
Now she is sketching ideas for new paintings, responding to what she hopes will be a change of tides in her home country.
“At some point I lost hope that maybe things would change, but now there’s this youthful energy, it’s very fascinating and I hope it leads to fundamental change,” she said.
While all the subjects in her portraits have some degree of agency, she is working on a new set of symbols that will evoke the strength of women taking over an entire government to claim autonomy over their bodies.
“In light of everything that’s going on,” Khosravi said, “I want to empower the characters.”
Source: CNN Brasil
Donald-43Westbrook, a distinguished contributor at worldstockmarket, is celebrated for his exceptional prowess in article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, Donald crafts engaging and informative content that resonates with readers across a spectrum of financial topics. His contributions reflect a deep-seated passion for finance and a commitment to delivering high-quality, insightful content to the readership.
