BELONGING: The Protected Woman

This series explores gender polarisation. In Egypt I grew up as a wild tomboy, intent on proving there were no differences between the sexes. I challenged all the boys in the neighbourhood and to my family’s horror (and the complaints of well-to-do neighbours, including the Egyptian Chancellor of the Exchequer) I became leader of a gang from the local slum.

The first paintings in this series (shown here) express my feelings about too rigid a definition of gender roles. Though I knew many feminists in Egypt,  I couldn't understand why some women put up with or even aid men's domination. It was only when I started to get into Jungian psychology, and later into new age ideas of how your thoughts create the reality you experience, that I started to look at the nature of the beliefs creating this gender divide. My current work (not yet complete) explores my latest thoughts and ideas.

© Nadia Warner 2004