Taxidermia Series

2014

A three‑part mixed‑media sculpture series that re‑contextualizes a set of the artist’s former favorite hijabs (Muslim head covering)—objects that have functioned simultaneously as sanctuary, marker of belonging, and, at times, a constraining uniform—into meticulously crafted moth specimens.

Each moth is mounted on linen within custom wooden display boxes; the original installation paired the winged form with the corresponding school ID card that documents the specific hijab’s wear‑date, thereby mapping a personal chronology from junior‑high through sophomore year of college. Because the ID cards function as archival anchors rather than structural necessities, the works have also been exhibited independently, allowing curators to present the moths as autonomous objects within a broader collection. The wings were constructed from the scarves worn in each school ID– overlaid with hair, fur, copper wire, ink, acrylic paint and various other material. Hand‑engraved brass plates assign each specimen a fictional taxonomic designation. Across the wings of the three moth specimens are inscribed in Arabic with the verses from the Quran (33:59) which many hold as the definitive prescription of the headscarf for all Muslim women, foregrounding the cultural and religious discourse surrounding the headscarf.

Moths, celebrated across mythologies for their nocturnal pursuit of light, operate here as a metaphor for transmutation: the garments that once served as a protective chrysalis are recast as winged vessels that willingly burn toward illumination, echoing alchemical and phoenix‑like rebirth. The series therefore interrogates the material memory embedded in fabric—its capacity to house identity, to imprison, and ultimately to dissolve into a new form.

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