By Xanthe P. Russel
Artist statement: In this piece, I was inspired by a set of very powerful but invasive photographs of Algerian women taken by Marc Garanger in the 1960s. They were forced to remove their veils, and the only way they could protest this was with their expressions. I wanted this piece to reflect the shared pain of women—across the generations and the world—fighting for their rights to control their own bodies.
Xanthe P. Russel (she/they) is a 24-year-old artist from the southwest of England, specializing in portraiture and character design.