Created in response to the 2026 January uprising in Iran, this painting portrays a woman with uncovered hair lighting her cigarette with the burning image of Khomeini — a gesture that confronts decades of religious repression, compulsory veiling, and the policing of women’s bodies in Iran. What appears as a small personal act becomes a radical refusal of fear, obedience, and imposed sanctity.

Acrylic and pencil on paper, ~20 × 30 cm (8 x 12 in, approx.); framed: 30 × 45 cm (12 × 18 in, approx.).