Harem Beauty #1 2008

This is Lalla Essaydi's 'Harem Beauty #1', a photograph that, well, sort of paints with light, but also with henna and pattern. What grabs me is how Essaydi dissolves the figure into the space. Look closely, the model’s skin and clothing are covered in henna calligraphy, blending her into the backdrop of patterned fabric. It's like she's camouflaged, almost disappearing. It is a play with surface, a dance between concealment and revelation. This makes me think about identity, and how it is both performed and imposed. It also makes me think about how decoration can be a kind of language, a way of telling stories, while also obscuring the real. It reminds me a little of the Pattern and Decoration movement in the 70’s. Artists like Joyce Kozloff took the so-called 'feminine' crafts like textile design and wallpaper and elevated them to high art. Essaydi does something similar, using the visual language of the harem to question orientalist fantasies and reclaim female agency. Art does not give us easy answers. It is a way of seeing.