* Poïétique
Elham Etemadi, December 17, 2021 – January 3, 2022
* Installation Views
* Individual Works
* Press Release
In the “Poïétique” collection, Elham Etemadi drags out images from the archives of her mind, and fuses them together with dreams and games, and puts them in the frames of her paintings. The concept of playing is very important in all of Etemadi’s works, and she playfully but consciously keeps some initial layers of the work intact, layers that reveal to us the connection between the initial ideas and forms and the final.
Not hiding these initial layers gives these pieces a sense of unfinishedness and reveals parts of the process of painting to the viewer. She constructs her compositions with geometrical shapes, sketch lines, and human and animal figures, and creates a space for us to get lost and explore in her paintings.
She portrays familiar forms using the energy from space around her and expressive states, forms that are reminders of memories and familiar feelings for the viewer and tend to create strong emotional content. Her figure paintings are full of energy and the undetermined limit of the elements makes them even more dynamic. The bright, sharp, and lively colors encourage the viewer to explore and discover in the piece, and the eyes to move around in the painting.
This sense of liberation in the compositions shows disarray in order, and the entire process of creation from the artist’s mind to the final moment in the painting can be witnessed.
The exaggerated shapes and colors and oscillating forms represent the anxieties of our lives today and the use of contradicting and multi-dimensional elements helps us find a different understanding of them.
Not hiding these initial layers gives these pieces a sense of unfinishedness and reveals parts of the process of painting to the viewer. She constructs her compositions with geometrical shapes, sketch lines, and human and animal figures, and creates a space for us to get lost and explore in her paintings.
She portrays familiar forms using the energy from space around her and expressive states, forms that are reminders of memories and familiar feelings for the viewer and tend to create strong emotional content. Her figure paintings are full of energy and the undetermined limit of the elements makes them even more dynamic. The bright, sharp, and lively colors encourage the viewer to explore and discover in the piece, and the eyes to move around in the painting.
This sense of liberation in the compositions shows disarray in order, and the entire process of creation from the artist’s mind to the final moment in the painting can be witnessed.
The exaggerated shapes and colors and oscillating forms represent the anxieties of our lives today and the use of contradicting and multi-dimensional elements helps us find a different understanding of them.
These pieces slowly change in the process of formation, and sometimes the borders between these forms tangle together, and sometimes we witness clear and determined borders. This slippery space between abstraction and figures gives an air of ambiguity to the whole piece.
Happenstance is a key element in Etemadi’s work, but she controls these happenings inside the frames of her paintings and so we are not faced with sheer chaos. The role of happenstance and Etemadi’s endeavors to control – or not control- them, is very bold in her work and involves the viewer in the relations among the subjects in the paintings, So much so that the viewer gradually forgets about the main theme; The theme that generally speaks of a combination of the artist’s fantasies, day to day boredoms, and her memories.
Etemadi aims not to control the viewer, but to get them to accompany her in her play with images and wide and clear colors, to reach a point of great pleasure, and to be able to curiously recreate concepts in their own imagination.
The word “Poïéique” in French, is similar to “Poiesis” in English and is rooted in ancient Greek. It means the moment of creation, similar to what happens in poetry. Poïétique is a concept that broadly points to any kind of artistic creation, meaning building, or an action that leads to transformation, in a moment of happiness or climax, changing from one thing to another.
Happenstance is a key element in Etemadi’s work, but she controls these happenings inside the frames of her paintings and so we are not faced with sheer chaos. The role of happenstance and Etemadi’s endeavors to control – or not control- them, is very bold in her work and involves the viewer in the relations among the subjects in the paintings, So much so that the viewer gradually forgets about the main theme; The theme that generally speaks of a combination of the artist’s fantasies, day to day boredoms, and her memories.
Etemadi aims not to control the viewer, but to get them to accompany her in her play with images and wide and clear colors, to reach a point of great pleasure, and to be able to curiously recreate concepts in their own imagination.
The word “Poïéique” in French, is similar to “Poiesis” in English and is rooted in ancient Greek. It means the moment of creation, similar to what happens in poetry. Poïétique is a concept that broadly points to any kind of artistic creation, meaning building, or an action that leads to transformation, in a moment of happiness or climax, changing from one thing to another.
* Past Exhibitions
Sanam Sayehafkan
November 26 – December 13, 2021
November 26 – December 13, 2021
Keiman Mahabadi
November 5-22, 2021
November 5-22, 2021
Group exhibition
August 6 - September 3, 2021
August 6 - September 3, 2021