This work is a two-panel painting framed together in a matt black tray frame.

Changing Ideas Award
"Stereo (diptych)" challenges you, the viewer, to confront your own unconscious bias through two seemingly different portraits of the same woman. The only variable is the lighting and colour of the headscarf, yet this minimal shift invites radically different interpretations. The work exposes how quickly perception is shaped not by truth, but by ingrained cultural assumptions.
At its centre is the hijab, a symbol that has become a focus globally in debates around freedom, identity and control. In some places it is banned; in others, enforced by law. Across these contexts, what women wear is often drawn into wider political and cultural agendas, while their voices are often overshadowed by state policy and media narratives. "Stereo" resists this simplification, redirecting attention from ideology to lived experience.
The work also speaks to the role of media and public discourse in shaping perception. Simplified, polarised representations of Muslim women influence policy, public opinion and broader social attitudes. By revealing how easily visual cues trigger judgement, Stereo questions the frameworks that sustain these narratives.
The diptych format reinforces a visual language of duality: light and dark, left and right, black and white, reflecting the binary thinking that underpins much social and political debate. It also draws on how chiaroscuro has been used throughout art history, particularly in religious painting. These structures appear neutral but carry deep cultural bias, shaping how difference is understood.
The aim of the painting is to create a moment of self-reflection, asking: what do you see, and why? In doing so, it highlights the subtle mechanisms of bias that shape perception. It seeks to challenge the status quo by prompting critical dialogue around representation and prejudice, urging viewers not only to reconsider what they see, but to recognise the responsibility that comes with how they see.