Touch of the glance

Touch of the glance
Self-portrait digital photography 21 x 29.7 cm
2019-2020

"Touch of the glance" is the project in which I embarked on capturing self-portraits characterized by blurriness, thereby distorting the matters of sexuality and appearance.
The blurriness is designed to create a unique spatial dynamic relationship between the photographs and the observer: Pictures look more blurry when the viewer gets closer. These visual compositions etched in Braille, describing the physical attributes of the subjects.

The sentences have been written in a way that refuses to make any references to the subjects' sexuality or identity, as same as the blurry photos.

I have been struggling with my identity since a young age. The necessity to conform to different behaviors in various public/private situations, has perpetually kept me in a state of duality, imposing censorship on my body. The lack of clarity in visual expression serves as a deliberate device to provoke the audience into thinking more critically about the societal norms and assumptions surrounding sexuality.

Additionally, constant struggles with economic inflations has prioritized the concerns and questions about identity to a secondary status. Identifying myself as part of a marginalized societal group, I became increasingly drawn to establishing connections with other minority communities. Consequently, I discovered a profound connection and collaboration with individuals experiencing visual disabilities, particularly in the context of being obliged to remain unseen.

The Braille in this project serves three purposes:
- First it enables the art piece to make a dual connection with various groups of audiences with different sensations.

- Secondly, this technique serves to create a juxtaposition between me, not just as an artist but also as an individual, and the audience. It is an ironic approach aimed at highlighting censorship, ultimately inviting them to touch and engage with the metaphor of my body through my work and challenging the repressive rules.

- Thirdly, this project introduces an interpretation for reading a photo— the sense of touch. In my opinion, In traditional photography and painting exhibitions, a sacred distance exists between the artwork and the audience. This physical separation is considered as a prerequisite for viewers to feel the privilege of engaging with the exhibition and understanding the artistic compositions. The utilization of Braille in this project lets the audience get closer to the artworks, in doing so, reduces the distance and/or ironically refers to the gap between the artist and society.

Touch of the glance
Self-portrait digital photography 21 x 29.7 cm
2019-2020