Harem #13 2009

Lalla Essaydi made this photograph, *Harem #13*, sometime after 1956, with a camera. What strikes me about Essaydi’s work is her use of pattern. It’s everywhere: on the walls, the floors, even the figures are draped in textiles covered with it. She creates a tension between flatness and depth that is really interesting. It makes me think about how we see and what we expect to see. The patterns look like tile, but what if they were actually made with paint? Or henna? I love the way the patterns flatten the space while simultaneously creating a sense of depth and movement. It’s almost dizzying, like being caught in a kaleidoscope. I see connections to the work of artists like Miriam Schapiro, who mixed pattern and decoration with feminist ideas in the 1970s. Ultimately, this piece invites us to question our assumptions about culture, gender, and representation. It’s a reminder that art is always a conversation, a negotiation between what we see and what we think we know.