ANAHITA

@selmaferianigallery @fiacparis

For Fiac! Online Viewing Rooms, Selma Feriani Gallery presents Power Structures, featuring works by Catalina Swinburn, Thameur Mejri, Massinissa Selmani whose practices examine the complexities of our existence through investigations into gender, politics and historical narratives. Working across continents, they each occupy individual yet collective concerns which they explore through materiality and technique, on display we can see their recent interactions with painting, drawing and sculpture.

Catalina Swinburn’s sensational sculptures are produced by intricately weaving together pages of historical documents to construct robust structures. Anahita refers to the Indo-Iranian cosmological figure, cherished as the divinity of the Waters and associated with fertility, healing and wisdom. The artwork is formed of archaeological documentation of Persian-Roman mosaics, taken from the palace of Shapur I at Bishapur. Most of these artefacts are now housed at the Louvre Museum in Paris and the National Museum of Iran.

Through this labour-intensive approach, the material is transformed from delicate pages of books to garment-like structures that the artist often wears as armour to perform in. The artwork is, therefore, activated by the artist’s position as both the fabricator and the performer of the sculpture, occupying a determination as she possesses multiple roles. This can be seen as a metaphor for resistance, where woven narratives are portrayed as a substitute for the silence of women throughout history.

ANAHITA

Woven paper investiture made from vintage archeological documentation from  Persian-Roman floor mosaics from the palace of Shapur I at Bishapur, gold leaf Wood backing on artits perspex cover.

150 w X 180 h X 45 cm depth

2021