NASSEM NAVAB

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Transparent is a photo series of portraits of muslim women wearing a transparent hijab made out clear furniture protecting vinyl. The hijab has been used as a device for modesty but it can be argued that it is sexualizing the woman’s body when worn in Western societies. A covering that is intended to act as a barrier to protect women, is actually producing the opposite result. Not only does the hijab make women who wear vulnerable to hate crimes, but it also incites the urge to know what is behind the veil. Growing up in an immigrant home I have been surrounded by clear vinyl my entire life, which my mother would use to cover the furniture in our home to protect it from wear and tear until guest would come and she would remove the covering. I utilize this material in order to capture both the immigrant desire to attain the American Dream, which attracts many of them here in the first place, as well as to remake the device as a revealing object, which draws attention to the very places which the veil is meant to cover, thereby demystifying the subject.