For this action I was like I am gonna go alone and listen to what nature tells me. But when my mom heard that I am going to the nature she said that there is no way you go alone, I am coming with you. Earlier in the class, when I saw Garima’s work with help of her mother, I understood that it is an unconditional love and presence we all have during our lives and it comes from our moms. So, we went out and the moment we arrived at the nearest natural setting, I asked my mom to go by herself and enjoy the nature. It was hard for me to explain what I was looking for, considering the fact that I had no idea myself. To my surprise she was fine with all the unsureness and kept me company. She was really helpful as well. We wondered around and I started taking some pictures.
Then we saw some plants with dried branches. We started cutting some of the branches. I saw some branches were woven into each other. So this created a sparkle in my mind. I then saw another plant and at this moment I somehow knew what I was going to do. I separated some leaves from the bottom of this plant as well.
I am so impress by seeing an thinking about my cultural roots, the instance that I meet with the nature. I originally come from a city which is placed in a desert, but its people are the first inventors of Qanat which is a gently sloping underground channel to transport water from an aquifer or water well to the surface for irrigation and drinking, acting as an underground aqueduct. They invented and watered Charbagh چارباغ by Qanat. Charbagh is a quadrilateral garden layout based on the four gardens of Paradise mentioned in the Qur’an. The quadrilateral garden is divided by walkways or flowing water into four smaller parts. There is always a great sense of nature presence in their handicraft. Lots and lots of flowers, leaves, branches, colors, animals and all. Sirjan, which I am originally from has the most the famous and the greatest Gelim گلیم which is a flat tapestry-woven carpet or rug. I decided to create a similar textile by the natural materials I found on nature.
So as it happened in action 3, I started reflecting on my thoughts and I looked backed at the whole process from action 3 to action 4. I decided to go back to a place that I left aside in action 3, which was the topic of women. I don’t like the label of Feminism, so I go with “Women Ethics of Care”. I think whenever a movement is created and labeled, it somehow redirects from its original goal.
There are lots of similarities with nature and women. Women become mothers like mother nature. They are both nurturer and they both suffered from lots of abuses and hardship. The reason that I decided to put the topic of women aside was the dreadful stories I heard from women who became victims of sexual abuse. At this point, I decided to express my feelings about the last story I read about one of these women. I didn’t reread the story and tried to create something with what I had in my mind.
A really young woman… lots of dreams… an artist…she is going to the US to start her master studies… Full of dreams… She is having an exhibition in a famous gallery in Iran… she is meeting with the curator… a famous artist… a friend… someone to trust… she has a drink in his office… she feels sick and unstable ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………in the morning he wakes up and has his breakfast… they leave the house… he is gone to work… she is… she isn’t………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. she is in he Us… living a nightmare……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… women speak out……………………………………………………………………………………….. she speaks out………………………………. she is… she is… brave
