Shackled by constraints imposed by society, family, tradition, religion, government and a myriad other institutions, I have fought for my right to remain free; a freedom of mind that I manifest in my art. I have the freedom to create from the most banal of materials, photos of white, yellow and blue paint on black asphalt, endless combinations of patterns; mandalas, quilts, Middle Eastern rugs.
‘A photograph passes for incontrovertible truth that a given thing happened. The picture may distort; but there is always a presumption that something exists, or did exist, which is like what’s in the picture.’ (Susan Sontag)
It is this presumption that I seek emancipation from the series of works called Markings. Through the use of montage, I have rebelled against the photo medium itself, challenging its already tenuous reputation to represent reality as it is, and in so doing, I have liberated myself from the traditional photo process.
To challenge those constraints, I have used photos of innocuous paint on black asphalt in different combinations to create a geometric pattern that bears no resemblance to the original image.
text by Camille Zakharia
