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Amy Baxter MacDonald Seen/Unseen (The Burqa Paintings): Artist Statement August
2011
In
2009 I bought an Afghanistani burqa online and painted several self-portraits
while wearing it. I had painted several life-size works while wearing high heels and tight-waisted clothing in order to see how physical discomfort affected the way I moved paint across the surface. This time my intent was to paint with the impaired vision and impractically long and clumsy sleeves offered by a full-body burqa. The frustration I felt while trying to see gave
way to some energetic brushwork, but the anger was unpleasant. As an artist who relies on her vision to paint from life, it angered me that women aren't allowed the simple pleasure of seeing the world as it is.
Each
painting in the series has a second painting on its flip side, inspired by real
stories and real photographs of women required to wear the veil. I appreciate a
woman’s decision to cover her head, but the government-mandated veil stands for
injustices beyond an obstructed view of the world. I am concerned for the
welfare of women trapped here, and hope these paintings remind us that there
are innocent women and political prisoners being tortured in prisons in Iran. Girls
are often forced into marriage from age nine onwards. Some women in Afghanistan
light themselves on fire as a last-resort means of protest, hoping to either
die or make themselves unattractive to their husbands. Women can be stoned to
death for failing to comply with harsh rules they have no part in creating.
Originally
there were five 60" x 50" paintings elevated 2' off the ground and
hinged on the sides to form a hexagonal structure, with a curtained door-frame
forming the 6th side. I recently dissembled this installation into five separate
paintings. The viewer does not have the claustrophobic experience of being
surrounded by disturbing images now, but the work is made more palatable by making
it two-dimensional. The “unpleasant” images face the wall, hidden but present.
See also:
Jean Sasson, Lipstick Jihad, Azadeh Moaveni, Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
Stephanie Sinclair's Self-Immolation series, documentary photos featured at the 2010 Whitney Biennial Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani's sentence of death by stoning was reduced to death by hanging as a result of public outcry. She is still in jail in Iran. The alleged crime is adultery.
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