Artist's Statement

This work is part of a series of large canvases titled Domesticated Marionettes where the representation of the mundane life of an ordinary housewife is highlighted and the monotony of daily chores including that of sexual fulfilment is the focus.

These women assume a false sense of sovereignty and the delusion of being queens in their homes.

The figures in my work reside in a precarious state of terrifying contingency. Things are happening; will happen; have happened; things that will lacerate when spoken about and are considered taboo or too harsh to deal with let alone witness; nonetheless an aura of sublimity is cast upon the figures, enriching them with an ornate divinity achieved by simple yet meticulously calculated brush strokes.

This dichotomy or battle of the opposites encompasses the human condition as a whole and exposes our universal values together with our detestable errors. They are in short surreal documentations of truth.

Hayv Kahraman
2009

Excerpted from Provisions, Book 1, catalogue for the 9th Sharjah Biennial