My art is most influenced by the pain and suffering of growing up under Sadaam Hussein's repressive rule from 1968 to the recent “Iraqi Freedom War”.I experienced violence on a daily basis, and visions of death and terror together with the anguish to the Iraqi people are irrevocably etched in my memory. My generation in Iraq is defined by decades of war. Since coming to the United States I have also seen great injustice and suffering in the forms of poverty, racism, and many other forms of discrimination and hatred. From this point of departure, through art I strive to uncover an overarching human condition while creating a space for provocation, dialogue, and contemplation. As my friend and colleague Gregg Bordowitz has written, when we are exposed to violence on a daily basis, how can we, as political artists, convey this experience clearly to the viewer and leave a lasting impression that is fresh and solid in its conclusions, not cliché?
A constant negotiation must take place in order to embrace the aesthetic pleasure of the image’s surface, which is so necessary to capture the imagination, and to convey the aesthetic pain of the content. The failure of this negotiation can easily result in the alienation of the viewer, while a successful negotiation may result in active engagement and an opening of the viewer’s perspective. While I do not wish to impose narrow interpretations of my work but struggle to create complex and muli-dimensional images, I also do not feel we currently have the privilege to enjoy art purely as aesthetic pleasure. It is a misconception that art has ever been pure; historically it has been a means of expressing personal and societal realities and interpretations. We must actively employ the tension and incongruence produced by the coexistence of aesthetic pleasure and aesthetic pain to attract and jolt the viewer in a thought-provoking manner. As an active player in society and as both educator and agitator, the artist must keep pushing these boundaries.
The photographs I create are highly symbolic, “hyper-real” landscapes, landscapes of possibilities existing just beyond reality, expressing emotions and conditions that permeate reality. They equally could be called “interior landscapes,” representative of the psychology of human suffering in a society ruled by oppression, domination, and fear. Figures exist in equal balance with the landscapes, the images drawing their complexity from this dramatic polar tension. Within the frame, time and place loses specificity to become transcendent and expressive of a broader human condition.
Video installations provide another level of impact besides the content of the image: we observe movement, a physical language the body understands. I play with the viewer’s presence and engagement or lack thereof, allowing this to directly impact the action and outcome of the piece. As the viewer may be far removed from the conflict addressed within the work, it is important to communicate to the viewer through a recognizable visual language, and so I filter the subject through historical and psychological contexts of the subject’s specific locale. The frame acts as a historical window to the past, while the moving image exemplifies a persistent-present, a current condition influenced by internal or external circumstances that inhibit change. The moment something is done to change a situation, the persistent-present becomes a progressive present where change can occur.
My memories of Iraq and my disenchantment with politics have not left me cynical, nor drained of hope for humanity. On the contrary, I am filled with belief in the power of the people to control their own destinies, and I continue to believe in social justice. I hope to foster a sense of self-empowerment in my audience and to counter the sense of powerlessness people feel in the face of inhumanity.