I Am a Magic Carpet,

Wood, metal, metal leaf, lenses and inkjet prints

This artwork is an intimate exploration of my post-immigration life. It examines the hybrid identity I developed as a result of departing from one culture and never fully arriving in another.

Six photographs- representing my metamorphoses from an Iranian immigrant into the “Magic Carpet”- are housed in an architectural-sculptural optical device reminiscent of oriental castles. The device gives physicality to the liminal space in which I perform my hybrid identity through staged photographs. I alienate myself from others, putting myself in a box and inviting viewers to peer through lenses, observing me as an exotic outsider.