Zarīh

Zarīh is a site-specific installation in the MCAD Gallery, created as part of the MCAD-Jerome Foundation Fellowship for Early Career Artists for the year 2023-24. This work draws inspiration from ancient architecture found in the Iranian Plateau and Mesopotamia, including Ziggurats, Persian Gardens, and mausoleums, which were designed to create sacred spaces for spiritual purposes. Traditionally, Zarīh refers to a cubic lattice structure that surrounds a grave within a shrine.

This installation is made with over 200 square feet of painted cutout muslin, layered and stitched by hand. The walls are covered with a Persian poem written by Aref Ghazvini in the early 1900s, remembering the innocent lives lost in the pursuit of freedom. This is accompanied by a visual translation of the symbolic language present in the poem. 

At the center of the installation, there is a rectangular solid covered in mirrors, which is partially visible through cutouts. In Persian symbolism, the mirror represents light, which in turn symbolizes truth. This work is a reflection on the collective experience of witnessing one's motherland in turmoil while living afar during the Woman, Life, Freedom movement, all while having access only to limited and filtered information and, therefore, truth.

To see the exhibition catalog, please click here.

Please click on the images to see the large-size photo.