Raya Kassisieh Jordan, b. 1991
Do you see her?, 2024
UV print on cotton corset, waxed thread and mild steel
95 x 25 x 12 cm
37 3/8 x 9 7/8 x 4 3/4 in
37 3/8 x 9 7/8 x 4 3/4 in
Copyright The Artist
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Further images
Claudette appears on a corset. A corset I bought with her as she recalled wearing such garments in her youth. “Teta, my waist was the narrowest of all,” she said....
Claudette appears on a corset.
A corset I bought with her as she recalled wearing such garments in her youth. “Teta, my waist was the narrowest of all,” she said. “Its circumference was 45cm on my wedding night.”
My graduate show was a homage to her. I wanted it to be perfect. But what is perfect in this convoluted world.
This work pulls at the notions of loss and performativity, it confronts the twisted control we dwell in, as people, as women. Cinched. Positioned. Poised.
Can you feel your flesh left marked by the plight of mere existence. Your skin carved with worry and anger from within? An archive of trials as you attempt to keep it all in place. That wire mark rto keep the bust perky. Yes, that. Marked flesh, daily. Your gut, wrinkled with imprints of contorting garments so it’s “perfect.”