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Makhloot
Medium: Archival Pigment Print
Size: 24”x 36"
Makhloot, which is a Farsi word for blending or to blend, represents the blending of two cultures, American and Iranian, through the literal blending of fabrics indicative of each. The fabrics are sewn into an Iranian headscarf known as roosari. However, the photographs position the audience’ view from behind the head, as an outsider looking in. The attempt is to reconcile multiple identities, experiencing them as an outsider, never fitting into the mold. The result of occupying space within multiple cultures is a loss, as it is impossible to know where one version of the self-ends and the other begins. Makhloot reveals what it means to exist in-between two spaces. It realizes the inevitability for a third self to emerge, a self, which is absent of labels or cultural association. Though the third self is not without conflict and frustration, it is a journey that must be made. A process in which equal parts blending and rewriting are required.