Black and Brown Vintage Clothing Store located in sunny San Jose California just had their seventh year anniversary. Congratulations! A lot of mom and pops don't make it in the Silicon Valley area. More known for it's status driven, high techie devoid-ism culture, some might be surprised that San Jose actually has it's gems of people and odd things happening for those who want a little more. The owners Moe and Irene came up with the brilliant idea to celebrate their seventh with an art show. The theme was to showcase artists they previously featured from the last seven years, with the theme being 7. I decided to turn the flier I made from our show into something new. I wanted to represent how much could change and evolve in 7 years. The flier is two nuns facing each other entitled "Face to Face". I decided to make over-exaggerated jewelry based on the piece. How to display it was tricky.
I bought a used mutilated mannequin torso and re created one of the nuns from the flier into a 3-D display. I gave her back her dignity. Her previous owner cut her breasts off!
For the jewelry, I transferred the image onto metal, then cut it into shapes. I cut pieces of mirror into these shapes, then attached the metal to the mirrors. I wanted it to resemble an Egyptian Menat with an art deco emphesis. The Menat was meant to ensure good luck and fortune and protect against evil spirits (that voodoo that you do). It was also worn for protection in the afterlife and is often found buried with the dead. Worn by women, it was expected to foster fruitfulness and good health, while among men it signified virility.
Here is a before and after of the end result. The show is up for a month, anyone in the area should check it out. Some amazing works came out of the show!
Among Muslim women, the debate about hijab takes many forms. Many believe that the veil is a way to secure personal liberty in a world that objectifies women. Understood in such terms, hijab protects women from the male gaze and allows them to become autonomous subjects. The veil is not a uniquely Islamic convention; the practice has a long history in the Judeo-Christian tradition. Catholic nuns engage in the practice, of course, and there are several references to the practice in both the Old and New Testaments. Ironically, the representation of veiling in the Bible is much more problematic than those in the Qur'an or the Hadith, because the Judeo-Christian sources imply that women should be covered because of their inherent inferiority. 
I can totally relate to them - Muslim elementary school student holds a defaced poster of US pop singer Lady Gaga during a protest in Solo, Central Java, Indonesia, against her concert that is scheduled to be held on June 3. Lady Gaga might have to cancel her sold-out show in Indonesia because police worry her sexy clothes and dance moves undermine Islamic values and will corrupt the country's youth.
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