Nush Menna - I Am Barcode

All made with the oil technique on high quality embossed linen cardboard
Small painting dominated by vivid colors.
It is part of a themed pictorial series entitled XXI TRIBÙ
Simple frame as a gift

I am Barcode

The face is entirely wrapped.
Not to heal.
To contain.

A middle-aged woman is transformed into a contemporary relic: a living mummy, embalmed as she breathes. Only the nose and mouth remain exposed, as the last gateways to existence. The lips, marked by smeared red lipstick, are an act of disobedience: erotic, imperfect, human. Time is visible, not hidden. The nose ring is a chosen wound, a mark of identity that rejects neutralization.

The heron becomes a political surface.
A barcode is stamped on the forehead, accompanied by numbers and the artist’s name: the body ceases to be a subject and becomes data, merchandise, archive. The signature is no longer an act of authorship, but branding.

At the top, a crushed smile, almost erased, imposes an emotional simulation: happiness as a protocol, as a visual obligation, as gentle violence.

This painting does not represent a person, but a system.
It speaks of control, of age, of compressed femininity, of an identity reduced to a legible label. It is a portrait that denies the face in order to restore a more uncomfortable presence: that of someone who exists even when blindfolded, numbered, forced to smile.

It's not a reassuring wall piece.
It's a body that looks back.

Final protective coating
Certificate of authenticity

To avoid further polluting the world and contribute to an ecological choice, I will use recycled cardboard. The small step towards a clean world starts with each individual. A responsible choice for everyone.

You can see the video that details the painting and the various stages of creation on my Instagram profile nush_artwork, or on my website, https://nushart.com.