MY NATURE AND IDENTITY
Androgyny: growing up I naturally presented a bit more femininely than my male counterparts, in the way that I looked or spoke or expressed myself. At first it was a girly voice, then girly eyes, and girly hobbies, and a feminine figure, and everything else.
Then theres my racial ambiguousness, ‘what are you?’ Where are you from? People could not box me nor did I understand “what I was’.
I always felt a bit different or strange, but it started taking a negative turn mid high school where peer pressure and body image issues is typically art a height. I became self conscious of my body and my features. But since then I have grown to embrace myself and I want to add that element into my outfit.
Indigeniety- took some inspiration from indigenous peoples in a multitude of ways
Tribes like the o o who adorn themselves with nature and the sustainability of indigenous fashion and life, the conservation of their land and materials I find fascinating and I wanted to bring that in a way which did not fully appropriate a culture, but expresses who I am.
Took a lot of inspiration from my own homeland, from native cultures like Kurds and Arabs and indigenous Iraqi cultures such as the Ahwari, Assyrians, in the traditional ways I have styled myself like the headdress, the keffiyeh and the symbolism on my clothing. These clothing tropes are present throughout the diaspora of the Middle East and beyond, thus are representational a a broad range of cultures, be it Assyrians, Arabs, Bedouins, Kurds, Turkic people, Amazigh, Taureg and furthermore. This way I can also unite such cultures that have become divided especially in recent times. Incorporating my traditional clothing with my androgyny Socio political, ecological nature, intertwined into a single outfit.
I know in my last project l talked about indigenous people but they are relevant in olmost every way because thay are our past present and future : ecological, natural, sustainable, moral, philosophical.
Ethereality - I wanted to captivate the audience by deifying myself like in that dream i had, for l have never seen some wine from my background present themselves in such a way in the fashion industry or any industry - a ambiguous, androgynous, queer, etherial being. A part of me, in the future, wants to be that person for a moment.
Passion - materialising my character design, responding to that absence of fashion. My character design mostly centered aound anatomy and phenotypes, but lacks fashion design. I always wanted to practice fashion design and eventually properly make clothes. In my recent years I have discovered my own sense of fashion which has empowered me a lot as a young adult and will constantly evolve as I evolve. This is why I appreciate rae’s suggestion of this runway concept and my groups willingness to also do it, because it is something new but exciting form of creative expression that…
Iraq ; paying homage to my homeland and Palestine and congo and wherever else in the world that is enduring extreme oppression. Too be honest Iately I’ve struggled to live comfortably knowing and seeing the systematic brutality that has been happening in the world, from the genocide of Palestinians, the holocaust of Congolese, Sudan, Haiti it seems never ending and its constantly on my mind. Which is good, it should make us think and contemplate our society and reality. I will turn that sadness and anger into art.
Presenting myself in such a way will show that we are not a monolith, but people who are multifaceted, sophisticated and rich in cultures and spirit.
Ancient Sumerian clothing
Queen Punabi headdress : i thought about creating something inspired by the from the headdress of queen Punjabi, aMESOPOTAMIAN QUEEN FROM 39765 BC whos body was discovered atoned in jewelery. What I find interesting is the juxtaposition of the head piece , it is futuristic and primitive at the same time. To recreate leaves in gold is advanced craftsmanship even today, never mind 3000 years ago, yet leaves are what our most ancient and primitive ancestors wore for they are the most natural and accesible material for coverage. I finds it beautiful how both aspects are juxtaposed and that’s something I can recreate with my headdress.
i foraged for many plants around my garde, main BCU campus and my area and observed each. I realised that to make them into a headpiece they have to be sturdy objects like stick or thick leaves. The leaves from one of my rose bushed provided the best results because they are so thick you would think theyre made of plastic. Of course all these natural items were either found off the floor or pruned off, not harming the natural state of the plants they were derived from. I have been pruning my garden trees since I was 12 which now looking back i am glad my mom taught me such a sustainable and beneficial practice.
Mesopotamian Lore. I used imagery from Mesopotamian architecture to symbolically express my philosophy of life, how we should respect nature and another.clothes, imagery of enumerated elish the first written creation story, old tree of life drawing. Meaning of the tree of life feeds into my philosophy…
Window seat video- Erykah Badu. I never really hear erykah badu on the radio but walking into this juice stand this song came on which reminded me of the video for it. I realised that the video is very much like my dream/vision where I get shot.
My old art pieces i also took inspiration from my old art pieces ; these .. which connects to that of Maryam and the theme I have gone for .