Asma Bahmim’s work demonstrates her layered understanding of the feminine through her curated display of artworks specifically commissioned for Art Basel, Paris.

Bahmim recycles, cuts and reassembles familial materials like her children’s used notebooks and old cotton T-shirts. The artist brings the maternal out in full display. Her recurring characters take center-stage; pigeons, lilies and humanoid figures orchestrating her interpretations on relationships. Drawing inspiration from Antoin Artaud's, Theatre of Cruelty, Bahmim uses fantastical characters to disrupt the viewer's reality.

Through 4 Marriage Contracts I and 4 Marriage Contracts II, Asma Bahmim portrays her perspective on interpersonal relationships. She brings the ‘masculine and ‘feminine’ into the forefront. In 4 Marriage Contracts I, the viewer recalls impressions of a dove-like cloak covering two monolithic statues. The dove, which symbolizes monogamous relationships is a direct rejection on the artist’s view towards polygamy.

4 Marriage Contracts II, displays a monstrous-like creature often referred to as an “Ifreet/Ifreeta” in Arabic. Here, what seemingly looks like a horseshoe, wraps around the female creature. Playing on the concept that if a female was career driven, and fast paced, she is referred to as an “Ifreeta”. Strikingly apparent are the two pink lilies resembling George O’keef’s flowers that sit precisely in the middle of the painting. Their balanced appearance refers to the duality of the feminine and masculine. They symbolically refer to the female and male reproductive organs found in flowers. Bahmim directly expresses how women can possess a combination of both the feminine and masculine traits.