There are two pairs of contrasting elements present here. A path cuts to the opening from the bottom center. Light cascades from outside through the opening and illuminates the darkened middle. This is because of a large smattering of stalagmite and stalactite-like structures that surround the opening. Perhaps surprised, they find themselves again and again picturing the interior of a cave. The viewer, having pondered the meaning of the chains and cloth, considers now the depiction of the womb itself. The chain pulls and pulls but cannot create a tear, instead the cloth holds together and bears more intensely its message of strength. By cloth being its representation, it is shown to have purpose and value, to be necessary. The symbolism, endurance, and history of cloth in this piece represent femininity as a concept.īy choosing a material that does not rip when pulled by chains, femininity (diametric to masculinity) is shown to persevere despite strong opposition. In many societies, nursing, textile manufacturing, and keeping of the hearth have historically been women-dominated domains. Clothing dually shields our body from the elements and presents character and individuality to the world in the form of fashion. Cloth is used medicinally to stem bleeding and prevent infection. Azar utilizes this canvas for the material’s ability to withstand the strength of the chains and the heaviness of the oil paint used. Cloth as a symbol represents healing, protection, and expression. However, pain works in tandem with growth. The world inflicts pain on all of us-it scars the toughest stone and dims the brightest jewel. The chains, while an integral aspect of Internal Intimacy, are neither the focus nor the work. The chains symbolize the idea that the womb can be viewed, exposed, given a ‘voice’ in the way visual art gives a ‘voice’ to the silenced, but has and continues to be targeted by male-centric societies. They are ever-present and required to understand the context of the work. As a symbol of oppressive forces, she utilizes them to display a masculine ideal of power through physical strength. This gross violation of morality by largely white cisgender male legislatures is a show of power meant to intimidate and sew fear into non-cisgender-male youth, peacocking the strength of a male-power centered society.Īzar’s chains are unrelenting. Currently, twenty-two bills are being considered in twenty-two United States state legislators to interrogate and view the genitals of transgender girls in sports. Acts of degradation against non-cisgender groups revolve heavily around genitalia. The patriarchy, one such force, is a societal structure that gives power to men at the exclusion of women-presenting people, transgender men, and gender non-conforming people. Azar uses chains to represent forces that oppress women and people with uteruses. Strength and vulnerability are shown hand in hand.Ĭhains have a long history symbolizing oppression, captivity, and injustice in literature and visual art. They are stretched, too, and a womb is thus presented bare to the world. The person giving birth is locked in place by clamps around their ankles. However, the juxtaposition of texture instead recalls the reclining position of labor. The strength of the chains and the tenderness of the cloth could suggest the entrapment of a bird in a cage. There are no wooden frames around this work, no neat boxes or clear glass cases. The cloth is filled with a grayscale oil paint and pencil sketch of a path in the middle of a cave-like area. Chains stretch cloth along four corners of a wall. When walking through the gallery where this work is displayed, the viewer is struck by its arrangement. Begging to be viewed and raw in its presentation, Internal Intimacy has much to say about gender and sex in a world that would prefer silence. This abstract depiction of a womb on cloth pulls viewers in, screaming, look at me. Sheyda Azar, in her work Internal Intimacy, uses contrasting texture, connotation, and color to express the struggle between bodily autonomy and societal pressure for people with uteruses.
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