Lalla Essaydi’s art deconstructs the myth of the sexy, naked Orientalist odalisque of 19th century French painting (lookin’ at you Ingres) and empowers real Islamic women.

Lalla Essaydi was born in Marrakesh, Morocco in 1956. She was the daughter of the youngest wife of the leader of a small village and olive grove. Essaydi was raised inside the walls of his harem. From a young age she pushed the boundaries of her place in society and as a result she was grounded. But not grounded the same way you probably were as a rebellious teen. Essaydi had been put in an abandoned house only attended by servants. She was not allowed to speak to anyone and no one was allowed to speak to her for an entire month. Now would be a good time to call your parents and thank them for their leniency.

At the age of 16 she left Morocco to go to school in Paris. When she returned from school in her 20s, she got married, moved to Saudi Arabia and had two children. The marriage only lasted six years but Essaydi stayed in Saudi Arabia for an additional 13 to raise her children. After this she went straight back to Paris to attend L’Ecole des Beaux-Arts, followed by Tufts University for her BFA and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts for her MFA. Another underachiever…

Her greatest inspiration came from her time in Paris. It was there that she was introduced to French Orientalist painters like Ingres, John Singer Sargent, and Eugene Delacroix. These were the bastards who pretended they knew about harem life and painted ~exotic~ ladies running around naked amongst the rich interiors of the Eastern world. Upon looking at these works, Essaydi felt as if she was being mansplained her own culture and decided to try to undo the damage that these men had done. Essaydi began taking photographs of Islamic women whose faces, arms, and every inch of uncovered skin were covered in calligraphy, a historically male practice, that was painted on them in henna, a historically female practice. The calligraphy, which also covers the clothes of the women and the background of the images, is the story of Essaydi’s life, her struggles as a result of her gender and culture as well as her triumphs. You go, Lalla!