Uninvited Voices
This series showcases four experimental videos using Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, Premiere Pro and multimedia making techniques.
In a culturally prominent upbringing, listen to my stories as I use fashion to help navigate my way through self growth. Embarking on a more intimate and cathartic route, I am capturing personal anecdotes and moments in my life where my relationship with fashion and clothes helped me develop my identity, especially in a more suppressed and culturally prominent world. Each story uses typography and is synthesised to one phrase and finally expressed in the form of a short film.
The most powerful aspect of my explorations became the interactions and stories I experienced as a result of what I chose to wear. Each expression I choose to share is relatable to my community of women from the Middle East but also relatable to women from all around the world. Reflecting on moments in my life, my choices on what to wear ignited a lot of uninvited voices, but in turn prompted uncomfortable conversations and eventually self growth. Fashion is the language in which I show and explore my identity and is a safe space for me to also explore my womanhood and developing identity. My choice to tell my narratives through different mediums adds another layer to exploring fashion as a means of communication. Uninvited voices are something we battle with every day, but how can we turn it into something beautiful?
Texting…
This project is a unique exploration of a personal and sensitive memory through the lens of social media. It takes the form of a conversation between you and your father, recreated on Instagram. By choosing this platform, you reclaim agency over the memory and the emotions it evokes.
The first part presents the conversation as a WhatsApp screen recording, complete with sound effects for a touch of realism. The second part ventures into a more stylized realm, using After Effects to reimagine the conversation with creative typography and effects.
Zaatar…
This typographic piece uses the Lebanese herb zaatar to confront unrealistic beauty standards through a unique typography piece. The phrase "you are prettier with straight hair," a constant message during my childhood, is meticulously formed using zaatar, a symbol of my Lebanese heritage. This piece challenges the pressure to conform to Eurocentric ideals and celebrates natural beauty.
The inclusion of Lebanese hair salon sounds adds another layer. These familiar sounds evoke cultural identity and the pressures young women face. Ultimately, it reclaims my beauty narrative, embracing my natural curls and rejecting messages that sought to diminish them.
Scan me…
"Too much, your dress is too tight." This powerful statement, a constant echo of societal judgments about my body and clothing choices, takes center stage in this scannergraphy piece.
I chose to emblazon the phrase on a lingerie dress, then scanned it to capture the ever-present "gaze" scrutinizing women's attire. Scanning sounds and the X-ray aesthetic further amplify this motif, highlighting the way we are often objectified. This piece is a bold reclaiming of my body and a call to challenge the policing of women's self-expression.
The judgmental phrase "That's what you're wearing?!" crackles with societal and familial pressure. This claymation takes aim at these expectations, exploring the constant scrutiny women face regarding their clothing choices.
Through a rapid prototyping process, I sculpted the phrase in clay. This moldable medium resonates with the idea of human evolution and our ability to change and adapt. The animation itself is a playful defiance, showcasing both my claymation skills and the empowering message that women should have the freedom to express themselves through their clothing, free from judgment.
Claymation…
May, 2023
NY, USA
PERSONAL WORK
