A Man At Point Zero

2021 The Anderson Gallery, VCU, Richmond VA
MFA Graduation Show

The exhibition's title is an homage to the 1975 book Woman at Point Zero by Egyptian Feminist writer Nawal El Saadawi that I read as a child. Point Zero is a point of zero power. The book questions the ideas of choice and destiny for women under the patriarchal structures that are designed to subordinate them. The book is an iconic anti-patriarchal piece very well known to Arabs around the world. The sculptures combine sexuality and eroticism with elements of fragility and absurdity to a portray queer portrait of a man, whose identity and body are absent from the installation space, to speak about masculinity that is not experienced from a position of power.

Authenticself

ndf, Epoxy Primmer, Autopaint, Mirrored Plexiglass
8ft x4inchx4inch

This floor sculpture is a mirror that is inspired by early 2000s pop culture and design. As a child I used to visit cheap hair salons together with my mother; They were designed with white NDF mirrors, epoxy-covered furniture, and many fake and shiny objects that created an illusion of luxury. This aesthetic of Western globalized culture contains both the promise and disappointment of capitalist life. The piece was placed on the floor to create a low viewpoint that mostly reflects the viewer's lower body, and create a provocative moment of irony. The text AUTHENTICSELF becomes a brand, a self-constructed product rather than a spiritual state of mind.

Car Seat

concrete, steel anchor
30 1/2 × 19 × 26 in | 77.5 × 48.3 × 66 cm

The car seat represents a passive point of power where the body is restricted and tied. the concrete carries the traumas of the artist’s laborers family and it turns the seat into a militant and masculine object, and challenges its innocence and asexuality