Art Concept

Abstract

The work rendered on the cover of JMEWS 11:3 is part of an ongoing series in which I want to link the concept of physical borders and divisions created geographically with corporeal divisions in the form of anatomical dissections. While doing research on anatomy, I came across a field called cross-sectional anatomical dissection. The visual inspiration was taken from Wilhelm Braune, who performed horizontal dissections on frozen cadavers and in 1877 published The Atlas of Topographical Anatomy. I found the cross sections in this book intriguing, as they created an uncommon perspective of the human body. I decided to create a work based on cross sections of my own body, which involved a rather performative act of 3-D scanning and processing of my upright body with an accuracy and detail of 0.3 mm. The three-dimensional rendering of my body was then cross-sectioned into horizontal quarter-inch-thick slices, 542 slices from head to toe. I chose a few slices from each section of the body and nested them into two pentagonal panels, creating a decagram. At the time I was also researching shanasheel (Iraqi) or mashrabiya. These wooden perforated screens are used in homes as an architectural element to conceal the private from the public.The JMEWS 11:3 cover image by Hayv Kahraman (Detail Decagram 2) evokes a refusal to be objectified but also the layers that block possibilities for fully seeing, whether one looks from the inside out or from the outside in. It offers the illusion of wholeness, which is often mapped onto women’s bodies. This volume wraps up a three-issue initiative in which authors affiliated with autonomous “feminist formations” throughout the region discussed their priorities and challenges at a particularly tumultuous historical moment. They wrote in English, French, Farsi, and Arabic. Reading them together one can discern threads of continuity and difference. The conflicts and challenges are stark, but so is the beauty and creativity, as in Kahraman’s constellation of corporeality, dissection, and architecture. The “feminist formation” essays communicate energy, commitment, and layers of complexity that exceed the hegemonic available frames for seeing and understanding.