Why do you act for them? | From the Atelier

Hafiz Hajeedar’s commissions have become a regular monthly addiction. You can check out his profile in my first posting of his art here.

This is his second commissioned work for me. Again, the digital version does not compare with the original artwork. There the blue leaps at you and the gold shimmers in the light.

I love how Hafiz playfully captures the themes of gender and law with a hint of Islamic motif. The image suggests the issue of transgenderism hanging in the balance of the law but without any sense of how it is hanging, and yet with a sense of imbalance suggested by the slant of the scales. But is the imbalance a reality or simply one of perception?

Hanging also suggests suspension, which better reflects the laws relationship with transgenderism – it is in a state of suspension because the law has not yet understood how it should accommodate the vast array of genders some think now exist.