Iman Toufaily is a multidisciplinary artist who combines photo collage with textile work. System, 2022, is a project made up of 52 pieces that aims to reflect the suffering that women undergo within a patriarchal society. In her meticulously crafted collages, Toufaily combines fabrics (specifically soft textiles such as chiffon or silk) with images of buildings from her urban environment as she sews or glues them together to reflect the presence and impact of women within urban contexts. 

Toufaily’s process involves a journey of experimentation as she explores different compositions to find the right ones that she feels represent her theme. The fragility of her choice of fabrics is juxtaposed by the rigidity of the cement building cut-outs. Instead of solely relying on glue techniques, she uses thread and sewing, a skill she learned specifically for this project. In many ways, this project is deeply personal for Toufaily as a widowed hijabi woman who has had to deal with the pressures of a male-dominated society; at the same time, her works reflect the experiences of many women, which is why the artist chose to cover their faces across the pieces in order to anonymize them as a deliberate resistance to the narrative that their identity is the cause of their oppression rather than their gender.

This work speaks to the lived experiences of many women, and offers a complex response to an oppressive but beloved environment that demands both rebellion and submission.