Sameerah Rahman

Artist statement

As an artist I feel that art is all about using symbolism to communicate deep thought on society and its current or historical position. My body of work is a collection of work hence it has photography, video and drawing. From a frame perspective my work is viewed as a postmodern artwork that explores the role of women historically and in our contemporary world through detailed lead pencil portraits that combine printed text and use new technology to challenge traditional making methods. This collection of work from a conceptual practice aspect is a feminist exploration of women in history and the general female experience. The work also uses text to give the audience two words that are opposites that define the woman as a positive such as strong and a negative such as bimbo.

My main influence is contemporary artist Barber Kruger. Her work communicates a message to the world about feminism and how the world historically portrays women in a particular manner with references to political, historical and social control. Kruger’s conceptual practice is strongly linked with her life experiences as well as relating to world events, politics and the wider art world. The medium is photographic prints, video, metals, cloth, magazines she used this medium to create a meaningful image. Barbara Kruger is best known for her layered photographs and with confrontational selection of words and phrases, she is also known for her typical use of red framed text overlayed onto a black and white image. As being a feminist fighter the features in her work explores her ideas on power, identity and sexuality.

The drawing component of my work is a reference to well-known woman in both history and woman that are challenging boundary’s today including scientist’s, movie stars and sports figures. The video is a snapshot of everyday woman in my life and explores their perception of what a woman is and how they feel they are treated as a woman. The video has been edited in black and white and text sections have been added in red and white to continue the reference to the practice of Kruger and maintain an overall stylistic approach in my own material practice.