Revisited #5 2008

Lalla Essaydi made Revisited #5 as a photograph, and what strikes me is her approach to image-making as a kind of process. Here, Essaydi uses henna on the figures, the fabric, the walls, turning the whole scene into a kind of canvas. The Arabic calligraphy, normally a carrier of meaning, becomes a purely visual element, a surface ornamentation. It’s as if she's saying, "Let's rethink our assumptions; let's see things differently." Look at the way the figures blend into the background. It's about layering, isn't it? Layering of identity, culture, and representation. This photograph reminds me a little of the work of Miriam Schapiro, in that both artists use pattern and decoration to ask questions about gender, identity, and cultural heritage. And just as with Schapiro's femmages, here there are no easy answers. Instead, there is the invitation to look, to question, and to engage.