PORTRAIT OF MOROCCO
One of my dear friends started a weaving cooperative for Moroccan women called Anmoon, with the aim of helping them achieve financial independence. I had the good fortune to spend three weeks with a small group of Berber women designing and weaving. Their lives illustrate the sometimes discordant ways that tradition merges with contemporary life. I saw this reflected on the old walls, in architecture, and in urban design.
In Morocco, history is displayed in layers of paint and plaster. Buildings that date back hundreds of years have been added on to with cinderblocks and are topped with satellites. Wires drape between them. A bright pink wall abuts a weathered terracotta building. How I saw the contrast between ancient history and modern life is reflected in this work, not only in the color and texture, but in the random geometry that knits together old urban centers. In this series, I refer to images from my rooftop view such as antennas, a group of round satellite dishes, a laundry line. My portrait of Morocco is comprised of these things.
