Unseen Hands is an installation that brings together my fascination with kitchen spaces, my Dagestani heritage, and the concept of spacing from animation.
The work reflects on the invisible labor of women's domestic work, as well as my childhood memories of time spent in the kitchen. In Dagestani culture, the kitchen has traditionally been a deeply feminine space. Women often prepare meals, serve them to the men gathered in the living room, and then eat separately in the kitchen themselves. This tension between female and male spaces remains both a compelling subject of inquiry and a deeply sensitive issue in Dagestan.
In my memories, the kitchen is a place where genuine emotions could be expressed freely—a place to be dissatisfied, vulnerable, and authentic. It is a space of intimacy rather than display, of safety, and of sisterhood.