2016 

In Silence of Wings, Ava explores women’s rights, roles, and relationships in the Middle East. The piece reflects the words that she feels have been used to control women’s behavior, to judge their dignity and honor, restrict their freedom and very existence — to literally “clip their wings.” She includes the words but splits them, burying them in the wings to break their power and diminish their holiness. Most notable is “ملكت إيمانكم” (Malakat Aymanakom) which was used by ISIS to justify the most horrific abuse and enslavement. The pipe and small hole represent women’s struggle to breathe, as restrictions affect all women in the modern Middle East, even at the highest level of society. The threads on the painting are intended to connect the words in complicated way to show how difficult it is to differentiate between so many lines in the religious text. The many dots in the work represent how small moments in time or small events can change the destiny and the lives of millions of women.