In Her Head

The book is an aesthetic and creative art book. It brings together all the illustrated portraits from the 2022 Anatural project and aims to document the project for future generations. It was printed in a limited edition.

It contains close to two hundred illustrations, half of them are colorful and the other half are drawings in general lines that present portraits of women at the beginning of the creative process. The drawing is done in a uniform line, the first step in creating illustrated portraits. Next to the general drawing there is text that guides the artist, Marina Manukian. The text describes what elements to draw on the character's head. The elements represent the sitter's personality, passions and desires. These characteristics are mostly hidden in the real world, and through their illustration, Marina reveals them and places them on the white parts of the hair. Manukian chooses to explore the white or gray or silver parts of the hair. As they spread more, the selected elements multiply. And sometimes, they cover the whole head.

There are two dominant colors in the illustrated portraits: bold red and glowing yellow.
Red and yellow are primary colors in the color palette of the Anatural project, a project whose sole purpose is to change the negative perceptions about naturally aging women. The primary foundation of our society is the pursuit of youth, of youthful and vibrant visibility, especially among the female gender. Hiding grey hair, injections to eliminate wrinkles and other chemical interventions have become a social norm and even a necessity in our society. Marina Manukian uses the visual artistic tools at her disposal to try to change harmful social norms. Sometimes she succeeds. But there is still a long way to go.