Permission to Leave Artist: [fereshteamehr] Year: 2025 Artist Statement There is no visible gate in this image. Instead, the threshold exists between bodies. Red ribbons bind the figures into a shared structure where intimacy and control become inseparable. They connect, restrain, and negotiate every gesture, transforming movement into a condition rather than an action. Within this network, access is never simply granted or denied; it is continuously shaped by attachment, responsibility, memory, and power. At the center, a single figure reaches beyond the system that holds the others together. Whether this gesture marks escape, surrender, or transformation remains unresolved. The uncertainty is intentional. Every departure begins long before a body crosses a boundary. Permission to Leave proposes that the most decisive gates are often invisible. They are built through relationships rather than architecture, and they quietly determine who belongs, who remains, and who is able to leave. Artwork Description A staged photographic tableau exploring access, control, and departure through the interconnected human body. Using red ribbons as symbolic structures rather than literal restraints, the work reimagines the gate as an invisible condition embedded within human relationships. Keywords Access • Gates • Threshold • Control • Exit • Belonging • Collective Body • Contemporary Photography • Performance • Human Relationships © 2025 [fereshteamehr]