Perhaps to be proactive, to practice civil disobedience in light of what I view as injustice, preconceived stereotypes, Islamophobia, hatred or discrimination in any form, is to simply be as I am; in my favorite color, wearing glorious traditional Azerbaijani attire, colorfully re-inserted into the current political miasma of where I am in America.Colorado prison rules forced me to remove the stretcher bars from my canvas, leaving the edges raw and holes from the staples.
This painting was commissioned for the exhibition “Painting Ourselves into Society” at the Berkeley Art Center, 2024.
