Self-portrait

In this self-portrait, the artist attempts to undo years of oppression by reclaiming it’s symbols. She begins with symbol most associated with the Iranian regime’s oppression of women: the scissors, the morality police’s weapon of choice when monitoring women’s bodies. By showing her face, fearless and defiant, she reclaims the courage that the henchmen and their scissors once made her lose. Finally, Newsha reclaims freedom an older generation of Iranians forwent for the sake of a false sense of “stability.”