From the series “Locked-In”. A reference to ‘Locked In Syndrome’, this series explores the phenomenon of feeling stuck and the accompanying sense of failure to control the forces that seem to dictate our lives. Using metaphor and imagery that suggest the inability to move on, the series evokes the absence of agency and a perceived futility of each waking day. The choice to use self-portraiture reflects not only a personal journey, but also a common experience of women who feel consciously aware of what they should pursue or speak up about, but feel impotent in the face of a dominant power: unequal relationships, demons residing in the subconscious, societal expectations and especially the disappearance of relevancy with encroaching age.

Gardening in the desert even after the harsh environment has clearly killed the bushes planted before, the woman in “Mirage” is completely ignoring the fallibility of her plans and continues to repeat the same mistakes, stuck in her denial of reality.