Tempting Eyes
Humaira Abid
Judge Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center
In the rearview mirror, women’s eyes reflect a history of repression.
The hyper-realistic eyes of a woman appear reflected in a car’s rearview mirror in each of these hand-painted and stained woodcarvings by Humaira Abid. In all three, the women can be seen wearing head scarves, their faces covered—except for the eyes.
Abid’s Tempting Eyes series was inspired by a pair of repressive laws affecting women in Saudi Arabia: a longstanding driving ban (lifted in 2018) and a law created by the country’s morality police that forbids women from showing “tempting eyes”—even as the eyes are often the only part of a woman’s body that is allowed to be visible.
About the Artist
Born, raised, and educated in Pakistan, Abid has been based in the Seattle area since 2008. Her sculptures transform ordinary images from everyday life into extraordinary objects through exquisitely detailed woodcarving and miniature paintings, often exploring taboos, gender, and injustices affecting women, particularly in the Middle East and South Asia. One of few leading female woodcarvers, she has exhibited her work in Malaysia, India, Pakistan, Mauritius, Nepal, Kenya, Dubai, Bolivia, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Other works in the King County Public Art Collection include Letters from Home.
About the Location
Judge Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center
Read more about the art and artists at Judge Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center. More >
