The Disobedient Nose دماغ نافرمان

The Disobedient Nose is a series of photographic and sculptural works about a nose that doesn’t want to be tamed. Iran sees the greatest number of rhinoplasties in the world. Many aspire to have the procedure, and this is often openly discussed across generations. I use my own face to explore the inherent defiance of women making their own choices against society’s biases.

I undertook an embodied research process for this project. I began by impersonating a patient, repeatedly visiting beauty clinics and recording my exchanges with cosmetic surgeons. I also investigated 16th-century medical drawings at Wellcome Collection to understand early facial modifications procedures. The plastic surgery training toolkit and silicon prostheses modelled after my own face helped me reverse the role of artist and surgeon. I practiced using different surgical techniques on these prosthetic tools, to understand for myself the physicality of altering one’s facial features.

Does a cosmetic surgeon have the artistic sensibility of a sculptor? Could I, as an artist, play the role of a surgeon?By reversing the role of surgeon and artist, I want this project to critically examine authority as the arbiter of beauty and show how surgeons blur the boundaries between beauty standards and medical opinion. My hope is that this project gives back a sense of agency to the viewer, when it comes to deciding what is beautiful in bodies.

 The Cult of Beauty, CCCB Barcelona, 2026