Red Series is a personal research project that focuses on patriarchal constructions of femininity and emerges from the position of a survivor. Like a film developer, the artist reveals traumas concealed by oppressive marital norms and mechanics of silencing, using her own experience of an abusive marriage as a perspective.
Dasha collects the allegorical images of traumatic experiences shared by many women who have endured the hypocrisy and cruelty embedded in a “traditional” matrimonial model. She acts as a witness to those experiences and as a voice for women whose stories often remain unheard. The flaming red color becomes her primary instrument – a contrasting visual element that intensifies the tension.
Forming this artistic framework, one particular piece is grounded in Dasha’s own experience of survival within patriarchy: a braid crucified on a red canvas. The artist literally uses her own fallen hair, which she collected during her short and traumatic marriage. Instead of visiting the hairdresser, she preserved these traces of grief and decay following an old belief that cutting one’s hair could lead to a loss of strength. This unconsciously assembled collection became a warning sign of fear and depression – the sign that was almost impossible to recognize at the time but is clear in retrospect.
This personal experience defines the critical and subversive impulse of Red Series, where the main artistic strategy is the reversal of traditional symbols of femininity and beauty: rather than reproducing them, Dasha transforms them into analytical tools for dissecting the system that produced them.
Dasha collects the allegorical images of traumatic experiences shared by many women who have endured the hypocrisy and cruelty embedded in a “traditional” matrimonial model. She acts as a witness to those experiences and as a voice for women whose stories often remain unheard. The flaming red color becomes her primary instrument – a contrasting visual element that intensifies the tension.
Forming this artistic framework, one particular piece is grounded in Dasha’s own experience of survival within patriarchy: a braid crucified on a red canvas. The artist literally uses her own fallen hair, which she collected during her short and traumatic marriage. Instead of visiting the hairdresser, she preserved these traces of grief and decay following an old belief that cutting one’s hair could lead to a loss of strength. This unconsciously assembled collection became a warning sign of fear and depression – the sign that was almost impossible to recognize at the time but is clear in retrospect.
This personal experience defines the critical and subversive impulse of Red Series, where the main artistic strategy is the reversal of traditional symbols of femininity and beauty: rather than reproducing them, Dasha transforms them into analytical tools for dissecting the system that produced them.
work in progress
RED SERIES
DASHA DZHURABAEVA
