There was a time when women were worshipped for their divinity, their beauty, their wisdom and grace. Throughout history things have changed and the female figure, stripped of its original power, became slave to men and their men-centered institutions. Today patriarchal ideas are still highly influential and dominant in many cultures, nevertheless we see them crumbling. The rise of the feminine energy is manifesting through a new form of consciousness that fights the abuses and calcified systems of the past with creativity, openness, sensitivity, kindness towards nature and individuals. 

The New York-based Pakistani artist Hiba Schahbaz uses the female figure to unfold narratives that transcends cultural and political boundaries. Trained in the antique traditional Indo-Persian miniature painting, Hiba challenges the inflexible rules of this technique and rewrites ancient history, handed down from men to  men, through a feminine perspective. Her artworks investigate the meaning of being a woman through a reflection on the body subtly addressing issues of personal freedom, destruction, sexuality and censorship. Yana Bardadim follows her intuition to capture reality in pictures. She experiences a sort of chemical reaction when she is behind the camera that makes her discover something she wouldn’t see or feel otherwise. She observes emotions, follows feelings and with the grace and discretion of a woman she stays within herself while being with and within her subject. She lensed Hiba Shahbaz inside the Brooklyn atelier of the natural dyer and designer Cara Marie Piazza, who designed all the pieces worn in the pictures. Extremely sensitive to nature and expert connoisseur of plants, Cara uses exclusively organic materials to create one of a kind textiles and unique sustainable clothing. Supporter of the fair and gentle harvest, Cara sources all her plant matters locally by collecting them from flower shops and restaurants before they turn them into waste. An urban witch who’s never ceased to be in tuned with natural world, she expresses the beauty of craftsmanship in respect and in reciprocity with the environment. 

This collaborative project gathers together the gazes of three different artistic women on the modern woman, and aims to express the strength, the fragility, the grace and the eternal power of the female figure.