Hidden Portraits
2014

   Our image has often been shaped from the outside by Western fantasies and projections and from within by our traditions and way of life. Here, it takes shape through layers that are all inscribed in the body’s memory. In the Hidden Portraits series, the female subjects are seen from behind on a background of Tunisian Djelliz. They all wear traditional male costumes (Djeba, Farmla, Minten).  The costumes are worn upside down, suggesting an inversion of the codes of representation. Each image is made up of two or three portraits of different subjects which are superimposed on each other. With this technique, the patterns of traditional embroidery fit into the skin and become embedded in the body. The silk fabrics become veilings and reveal the layers of memory carried by the body.