In Red

Self-Portrait Series on Mixed-Media Wood Blocks

Red, I write, is the color of life. It’s blood, passion, rage. It’s menstrual flow and after birth. Beginnings and violent end. Red is the color of love. Beating hearts and hungry lips. Roses, Valentines, cherries. Red is the color of shame. Crimson cheeks and spilled blood. Broken hearts, opened veins.

– Mary Hogan 

In Red is a series of self-portraits which aims to challenge cultural binaries, labels, and identities imposed on Muslimahs.  There is a prevalent notion in Islamic culture that wearing makeup and  bright colours,  such as  red is “haram” or inappropriate.  The portrait of the inverted, heart shaped red lips in the piece, Haram, invites the viewer to look at red lips from a different perspective, and to consider whether there is actually anything inherently “sinful” about wearing red lipstick.  The other two pieces,  Modest & Meek, and  Shameless  contest some of the opposing binaries that Muslimahs are often boxed in, such as the  Modest Saint vs. The Shameless Whore, or the Radical Liberal vs. The Extremist Conservative.  A Muslimah who is “modest” and practices hijab is not a “saint”; and wearing red lipstick does not turn a Muslimah into a “whore”. The reality is that the identities of Muslim women exist on a much more nuanced spectrum and do not fit into these unrealistic binaries.

In Red was exhibited at (mus) interpreted in 2017 and at the Feminist Art Fest at OCAD in 2020.