Eye to eye, Shani Nahum

WiSe 2021/22, ab 3. Studienjahr und MA Textildesign, Prof. Bettina Göttke-Krogmann, Anna Gronemeyer geb. Schröder (künstlerische Mitarbeiterin), FemPower

Textil Informationen: Chive Blossom scarf, Tussah silk, size: 130x30cm
Photo credits: Jule Eretier.

A woman's strength is based on her personality and worldview and is expressed through conventions of self-expression. Alongside this, our personality is woven from personal memories of significant figures in our lives. For me, this figure was my grandma Rachel. Her sudden death due to a disease she hid for 12 years, evoked in me an ambivalence: why did she choose to harbor the secret of her illness for so long? And does her harboring reflect positive or negative strength?

I believe that women's strength is demonstrated through their capability to communicate thoughts, desires, and aspirations. However, silence leads to loneliness and sadness that might be unspoken or veiled but nonetheless can be imparted through eyes as well.

This collection exemplifies the complex strength of women and presents abstract illustrations of eyes that I sketched from old family pictures. By doing so, I am interested in creating diverse expressions of emotions. Moreover, I believe this observation can offer us another aspect of sensitivity as human beings. We can get an impression of honest feelings from pair of eyes: sadness, happiness, contemplation, loneliness. The choice of a scarf as an object for a collection refers to the main points in my story: the hiding versus discovery, the outer cover versus inner feeling, and also the way of expression, which can be worn in several ways. Also, the colors range and silk as a material to work with were chosen from an inner feeling identified with my grandmother as well as from the woman I am today.