ARTIST STATEMENT
Setareh Nazmi Afshar
No Heads Allowed, Boobs are Fine
Adaptation to violence is the main aspect of this series of photos. Adaptation to any situation leads to connivance, and ignorance which eventually, is likely to cause a critical situation to be considered normal from citizens’ perspective. Violence, or any other concept, loses its definition and symbol, as well as the correct reaction towards it.
Parallel to their usage as a model, mannequins are perfect indications of ongoing streams in a society. They reflect the exact face of society due to their task, showing off what is or will be trendy. They clearly exhibit citizens’ (shoppers’) expectations and desires in a community.
These photos endeavor to present an active but also cryptographic violence spread in Iran based on mannequins’ looks. As a woman who lived it, I have noticed many times that the interaction between a society and its appearance causes an exponential increase in ongoing, and unstoppable violence spread in a society. This is another sample of supply and demand, however, in an unusual form.
So here it is… pictures of female mannequins in which violence definition interferes with many other concepts; where violence is normalized in many many ways; where women don’t expect more as expectations will only hurt them.
Here it is… a true reflection of a life I lived for 25 years.
Welcome to the world of ~40 million women living in Iran.
© Setareh Nazmi Afshar