Born in Baghdad, Hayv Kahraman left Iraq in 1991, when it was still under the rule of Saddam Hussein. She and her family found refuge in Sweden, where she began painting at age twelve. She went on to study graphic design in Florence. Today, based in Los Angeles, she draws, paints, and sculpts. Inspired by Islamic manuscript illustration, Italian Renaissance painting and Japanese woodcut prints, her works are informed by her own life experiences.This watercolor from the series Not Quite Human portrays a mirror image pair of women in a contorted pose in which Kahraman intends to show the female body as a site of self-empowerment and agency. The distorted forms that define the works in this series are in part about shape shifters, outsiders, and ultimately survivors.
