2024

Solo Exhbition

I always admire artists who perceive their survival in discovering the connections between their artwork and their lives. In this conscious existence, the artist is an explorer, pulled exceedingly here and there by various events until they realize their personal narratives, consciously choosing which path to follow next.

Reyhaneh Afzalian’s creations are born not just from her mind’s eye but from the depths of her hands. The hands turn the matter upside down, breathing life in and out of it until the lived experiences are transferred to the fundamental elements of the matter. This transference proceeds from one work to another, creating new forms born from each other. Each piece is born from its predecessors, and this cycle of death and birth is simultaneously passed onto one work to another. The texture enables touching the work and experiencing emotions. It invites the hands to explore the world, through which the artist can also penetrate her earthly elements.

For Reyhaneh, the plant serves as a pretext to manifest this exploration. She is not content with just using their visual appeal but also delves into the depths of their constituent layers such as minerals, soil and anything that constitutes birth. Life and death is the most common life experience of us humans. The touch of one is entwined with the touch of the other with this shared destiny moving ceaselessly among us. The series of movements and repetitions of this collection recount the story of the Earth’s survivors, awaiting patiently in each other’s refuge.

I sometimes think that never blows so red

The Rose as where some buried Cæsar bled;

That every Hyacinth the Garden wears

Dropt in its Lap from some once lovely Head.

(Khayyam translated by Edward Fitzgerald)

Maryam Farshad