When defining the temperament of recent times, the concept of the ‘Self’ is an important one. The Self is taught to be glorified and worshipped; creating a system that can render one indifferent to others. During this process, one can become more and more isolated from the world, coming to experience certain emptiness: an emptiness that arises from the futile attempt of attaining an idealized version of self.

In this series of works, this tragic cycle of narcissism is expressed through the use of photographic self-portraits; many of them being saint-like and androgynous, with melancholic expressions, fragmented into many parts. By actively participating in the conceptual structure of her work, the artist wishes to convey that she too is not outside the cycle, reinforcing the sense of vulnerability by posing herself as the tragic subject.

About the artist:

Monira Al Qadiri is a Kuwaiti artist born in Senegal in 1983. For the past ten years she has been living in Japan where she studied fine arts and completed her PhD at Tokyo University of Arts. This exhibition will be her first solo show in Kuwait since she left for Japan, and is a culmination of her work from the past two years.