I paint figures that hold their ground. Raised between Iraqi and American cultural frameworks, I learned early that composure is not the same as peace — it is a performance maintained under pressure. My work examines how identity is constructed and fortified when the systems surrounding it demand concealment, compliance, or erasure.

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The figure functions as both subject and structure. Clothing, ornamentation, and pattern are rendered with deliberate precision, operating as systems of camouflage that define as much as they conceal. Within these systems, visibility is regulated, obscured, and controlled.

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Against this composed surface, I introduce disruption. This may occur through structural shifts within the image or through the insertion of biographical text that names what the image withholds. The figure remains intact, while the systems surrounding it begin to register strain.

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Precision in my work operates as a structural condition rather than a stylistic one. Stability is maintained at the surface, while underlying frameworks suggest pressure and constraint.