The inspiration for this body of work comes from wanting to understand why women wear hajib within the Islamic community. Originally, I lumped this concept of these covered women in with others who wear a garment to disguise their identitites such as Klan members. This is not the case. These conservative Islamic women dress according to sharia, or Muslim law, an aspect of the Islamic faith that feathers the sacred law as stated in the Koran with secular life. We do not understand this concept as a basic tenet of the American Constitution is the separation of church and state. Within the Islamic context, church and state are one.

These clothes are not meant to be mysterious or sexy. This is not an investigation of the allure of who these women are beneath their robes as this is not our place. The robes and head coverings that these conservative women wear is based on keeping those things private, private--and that a married women's place is one that is protected, private and discreet. She is to be protected and kept distanced from the world in these garments only within the privacy of her own home or within the community of other women. Hijab provides this distance.

The decision to wear a hijab is an enormous one. Something that is not taking lightly. These notes on a blog "Canadian Blog" points up many secular and religious views.>>

"Hijab or ħijāb (حجاب) is the Arabic term for "cover" (noun), based on the root حجب meaning "to veil, to cover (verb), to screen, to shelter"

In some Arabic-speaking countries and Western countries, the word hijab primarily refers to women's head, face, or body covering. But in Islamic scholarship, hijab is given the wider meaning of modesty, privacy, and morality.[1] The word used in the Qur'an for a headscarf or veil is khimār (خمار)."