I Dress, Therefore I Disrupt (Self-portraits), 2025
40 x 50 cm
Light painting, photography, print (Giclée)

This series of night self-portraits was photographed in the forests of Finland, a setting that connects to the concealed routes and landscapes I crossed during the 2015 refugee crisis. The work draws on Édouard Glissant’s concept of the right to opacity, using light painting and long exposure to confront how visibility has historically been used to monitor and control displaced bodies. These photographs do not reconstruct past memories but instead create counter-images that challenge dominant narratives. The light, once a threat exposing and endangering, is here transformed into a medium of refusal, resistance, and self-authorship.

Dressing is not performance; it is a daily survival tactic, a political act, a visual disruption.

Created in collaboration with Finnish artist Viktor Palm, assisted by Zarah Holmberg.

This solo exhibition is part of a project I conducted during my residency in Finland.