Los Angeles-based artist Zarina Nares explores the impact of social media on self-perception and the complexities of feminine identity. Through her work, she critiques and engages with digital culture, finding nuance in its language and tools. Nares recognizes the redeeming qualities of social media, as it reflects contemporary culture’s attitudes towards gender, love, and morality. She questions the concept of privacy, acknowledging the illusion it provides amidst pervasive data collection.
ART
Drawing from her experience in the modeling industry, the artist examines its role in reinforcing societal narratives surrounding beauty and self-worth. Her works challenge traditional gender roles and celebrate the transformative power of self-realization.
You often use social media as a medium for your artistic expression. (Why?) How much time do you spend on social media? – I think because I’ve had social media since middle school I’m curious as to how that has affected my sense of self. I’m interested in how the performance and curation of self can be internalized to the point that it shifts our personal perception of self and particularly how this can subtly but significantly instigate subconscious desires and values that inadvertently contribute to perpetuating oppressive societal structures. There’s a lecture by Mark Fisher on YouTube where he asks, “How do we articulate any kind of critique of digital culture without sounding like conservatives?” and that question has helped me to better understand my use of social media as a material. It allows me to address aspects of digital culture that I struggle with, without dismissing its benefits or resorting to a nostalgic longing for the past. Commenting on social media through its own language and tools allows for a nuance that I’m really drawn to. I’m able to both critique and take part in digital culture simultaneously.
I just checked my daily average and it says 31 minutes on social media and lowkey I think that’s pretty good? (lol flex) Given how interested I am in social media, I actually don’t think I spend that much time on it anymore. I definitely used to, and I still have moments where I get sucked into the black hole, especially when I’m working on a video. I can easily doom scroll for hours (and I feel psychotic during these times), but for the most part, I don’t interact with it so much. Partly because I have an addictive personality and partly because the idea of being perceived sends me into panic attacks (virgo moon kms). I haven’t yet figured out how to interact with social media in a way that feels healthy for me. I do watch a lot of YouTube videos though…
Do you think social media has any redeeming qualities? – Yes, many! For me, right now, what stands out is social media’s ability to mirror contemporary culture’s relationship to certain aspects of life, such as gender, love, and morality. That’s why I’m so interested in viral moments or trends. They can easily be seen as trivial or superficial, but I think they can also function as significant indicators of our collective psyche and its inherent contradictions in terms of what we value, fear, and desire. Viral phenomena highlight the ways that vast and sometimes global communities perceive, interpret, and emotionally respond to different circumstances, other individuals, and ultimately themselves. They expose our tendency to idolize, judge, or ostracize based on ephemeral moments, which, to me, resonates deeply with our attachment to binary thinking, and our deficiency in cultural nuance, and again, people’s self-perception. So, when thinking of social media in this way, viral moments can transcend into catalysts for serious but exciting (at least I think so) discourse and reflection. #redeeming
Do you think there is any privacy on social media? – I think there are ways to maintain boundaries within social media that can uphold your sense of privacy, but I don’t know how real that is. Like I have a finsta where I post to my close friends and oftentimes that gives me an illusion of privacy, but at the same time, these platforms are literally designed to collect your data so… no not really haha (sad).
Media, undoubtedly serves as a catalyst for empowerment on individual and collective levels but it also possesses the potential to serve as a subtle, yet potent tool for psychological oppression. It’s adaptability often makes it difficult to discern between these opposing forces.
Did your modeling career have any influence on your artistic practice? – Yeah, I think my career in modeling is what initially inspired a lot of my video work, which largely explores the intersections of media and feminine identity. I started modeling at a time when social media was just intertwining with the fashion industry (it’s easy to forget that fashion houses were really reluctant to join Instagram for a while). I was also 18 (and I thought I was soooo grown lol), so I was just beginning to get to know myself outside of my family structure, which was relatively conservative, at least by American standards, being raised in an Indian Muslim household. Initially, there was an aspect of modeling that felt kind of radical to me because many family members saw it as shameful. Like many women, I was raised with a narrative of shame towards my body and sexuality, so there was a kind of reclaiming of my body through modeling or at least a desire for reclamation. But once I was financially dependent on my physical appearance I couldn’t dissociate from the notion of being a sexual object. The combination of this and the simultaneous performance of it on social media became really toxic for me. I had a severe eating disorder and was struggling with depression and anxiety. The societal understanding that beauty is inseparable from a woman’s worth is profoundly ingrained, and modeling reinforces this belief – it’s one of the rare industries where women earn more than men. I struggled with the fact that I was contributing to this narrative. It didn’t just stop feeling radical; my initial perception of its radical nature also felt problematic and after leaving the industry entirely that became really intriguing for me. It’s not to say that beauty or modeling are inherently bad, but it’s complicated given the ways in which the beauty, fashion, and wellness industries are used to psychologically and financially oppress women. The tension this creates within me is essentially what my art practice is about (currently).
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Could you elaborate on your exploration of the relationship between media and the feminine identity in your work? – In another lecture on YouTube (always) bell hooks says to Gloria Steinem, “…women have better jobs, better things…but that the interior life of women was not changing…” This concept is central to my exploration of media’s relationship with feminine identity. As women continue to ascend in the material world, the mechanisms for maintaining oppressive structures adapt. They become exponentially more reliant on psychological manipulation, which often operates in the deeply personal sphere of women’s internal lives. The feminine identity, being under constant negotiation and reconstruction in the digital era (and literally always), risks being co-opted into this paradigm.
Media, undoubtedly serves as a catalyst for empowerment on individual and collective levels but it also possesses the potential to serve as a subtle, yet potent tool for psychological oppression. It’s adaptability often makes it difficult to discern between these opposing forces. As media infiltrates deeper into our lives, particularly through the intensifying relationship with social media to our identities, values, and desires, that distinguishing becomes crucial, at least for me, in order to maintain authenticity. It’s this precarious balance – between self-realization and manipulation, between genuine expression and performed identity – that I am interested in exploring.
I grant myself the freedom to embrace my feminine self, even when aspects of her might align with traditionally patriarchal ideals. It’s about trusting myself and my intuition (something patriarchy does not want any of us to do), believing that I know what’s best for me, and extending that trust to others as well, believing they know what’s best for them – even if our ideas don’t always align.
How do we end capitalist patriarchy? – I wish I knew :((( …I tend to think more about ways I can end oppressive systems from functioning within myself and in my interactions with others. For me, this involves actively questioning my actions, choices, and desires – not doubting myself, but rather aiming to be intentional, checking in with myself to understand the origins of my thoughts and feelings. I grant myself the freedom to embrace my feminine self, even when aspects of her might align with traditionally patriarchal ideals. It’s about trusting myself and my intuition (something patriarchy does not want any of us to do), believing that I know what’s best for me, and extending that trust to others as well, believing they know what’s best for them – even if our ideas don’t always align. It’s forgiving myself for times I have inflicted capitalist patriarchy on myself and on others, and forgiving others for the same, because we are all unlearning this shit together and everyone’s on their own journey and unlearns in their own way. And really working to reimagine the inner workings of my life, to create a foundation grounded in my own definitions of love and empowerment, as opposed to resorting to the distorted and superficial versions offered to us through oppressive structures. And I try (keyword try) to stop buying things to make myself feel better, or hotter, or richer. (aaaaaaand psychedelics)
Tell us about your cover artwork. – I’m showing a sculpture, Papa with child, 2023, which represents a dual portrait of my parents and an exploration of the archetypes of motherhood and fatherhood, their relationship to the gender binary, and my personal journey that emerged as my father transitioned. My father transitioning has been one of the most beautiful experiences I have been privy to. It’s also been messy and confusing and so fucking up and down, but I still remain in awe of her as she continues to strive for authenticity in a culture that desperately seeks to suppress it. Transitioning embodies a level of self-realization so inspiring to me and so deep that it enables an incredibly authentic connection between us. I continue to enjoy getting to know her.
For myself, the distress that accompanies her transition is my inability to alleviate the pain inflicted by the constraints of the gender binary. I am unable to give to her the perspective through which I see her, a perspective of beauty and strength, even in her moments of vulnerability – it’s an offering of my love and of my eyes.
My intention with this work was to create a figure as potent and commanding as ancient Greek and Roman sculptures, to carve out a tangible piece of history she could resonate with. The composition of her pose imbues characteristics that have traditionally been considered exclusive to either maternal or paternal roles. Her outward gaze reflects her capacity to exude warmth and care, while simultaneously maintaining her autonomy. As Nan Goldin so beautifully states in “The Ballad of Sexual Dependency”, “…to change one’s sex…is the ultimate act of body autonomy.”
What happens the day before tomorrow? – Presence through a perspective of simultaneous introspection and forward thinking. It is symbolic of a metamorphosis – an intentional reconstruction that is at once personal and collective.
DSCENE Magazine joined forces with the esteemed Eugster II Belgrade gallery for a group exhibition entitled “DAY BEFORE TOMORROW.” Curated by the visionary talent of Vuk ?uk, this also marks his curatorial debut, showcasing a remarkable group of artists, including the likes of Lyn Liu, Eva Papamargariti, Zarina Nares, Filip Kostic, Damien H. Ding, and Vuk ?uk himself.
