Layla Bahussain's series, Shadows results from her questions about the way in which Emirati women, when clothed in the traditional abaya, may be perceived by others.  Are they seen as oddities or exotic beings by tourists unfamiliar with the local culture simply because of what they are wearing?  Shadows is a playful exploration of the relationship of form to shadow with perception and misperception.
 
Some images are quite surprising.  Shadows 1 and 2 portray groups of figures who are remarkably unconnected to each other and the shadows they cast.  Some figures have no shadows at all while others have shadows that appear to not be connected to the person who is apparently casting them. In Shadows 3 the figures appear to be dispersing, while in 10 one shadow seems to have no one with whom to connect.  The remaining three artworks are more ambiguous in that it is difficult to ascertain what actually occurring.  But then that is Bahussain's point in this body of work.  She challenges her viewers to reconsider what they think they are seeing when they are in unfamiliar territory.

Dr. Sharon LaVon Parker is currently a faculty member in the Department of Art and Design, at Kuwait University College for Women, Kuwait where she teaches courses in art and architectural history and contemporary art theory.  In January 2009 she will return to teaching in the Department of Art and Design at Zayed University, Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. Her interest in contemporary Iranian women artists and their artwork developed during the years she spent living in Iran, and her training in art history, theory, and painting.  She has presented numerous papers about contemporary Iranian and Emirati women artists at conferences in the United States, the United Arab Emirates and Great Britain, and written many exhibition catalogue essays on their works.  Dr. Parker is currently working on a manuscript about a selection of contemporary Iranian women artists and their works.  She is the recipient of the Best Theses Award (April 2006) from the Iranian Studies Group - Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Sharif University of Technology Alumni Association.