yazmin moktan
My work primarily focuses on the human form, through which I explore issues of gender based inequality, systems of power, and the human condition. My intention is for my images to start discussions about how society operates based on privilege and hierarchy. I am most interested in the binary, non-inclusive, gendered attributes assigned to us that limit our roles in this structure. I want my work to call attention to how these systems of inequality are put into place, and are continually perpetuated in an endless loop especially as our world becomes increasingly connected yet disconnected through social media, capitalism and excess.
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My personal point of view is informed by the roles I play as a first generation international student, a woman of color, an Asian, a first daughter, an older sister...who was raised a mix of Catholic plus Buddhist in a Hindu country. Feminism took on a whole new meaning to me only after I left my very patriarchal home country to pursue a career in painting, in which even though I am not from the West, I heavily rely on Western popular icons and imagery to make my point. There is a poignant irony there, but it is proof of the glass ceiling I personally face as a foreign student of color, despite the privileges I have been granted that have enabled me to be in a position to write this statement.
In my work, I consistently experiment with new ways to visually arrange and express these issues. The differences in the formal and visual quality of my work can be attributed to how I am continuing to learn about the medium of oil paint, various painting techniques, and processes of composing. I am very much influenced by my surroundings - my work is directly and immediately affected by current events, critiques, and new information. Each of my series have completely different styles, but I feel that I am able to pull from the best parts of all the different series I’ve done to establish a personal visual vocabulary and mark that is consistently growing and developing. This intuitive process is integral to how I create and put out work that deals with issues that are extremely relevant and responsive to the volatile state of the world we live in today.