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“In my current series, the Naked Immigrants, I explore the loss of identity immigrants
go through when they are forced to leave their homes and dive into the unknown.
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Immigrants go through such hardship and pain that it often leads them to become mere shells of humans experiencing a severe loss in identity. For example, immigrants lose their language—their mother lan- guage turns into something personal and to be hid- den within the dark walls of their own home. Their voices are silenced, their identities are stripped, and they are forced to restart their lives completely na- ked. Immigration is a concept that is dearly personal to me as it is something I have been through through- out my life. The figures I have featured in these paintings are symbolic representations of this loss of identity. The sculpted blank faces on the canvas, the clinging of the figures to each other, and the covered- up mouths representing the forced silence.”
Deport
acrylic and mixed media on canvas
72'' x 48''
sahar khalkhalian