Opening 4th October 2024
On view until 18th October 2024

Distorting reality is a game often played by artists. Ava Afshari depends on her sense of touch to understand and learn about materials and textures, enabling her to better build her own oeuvre. Mundane everyday pieces that are supposed to be touched are de-familiarized to alter one’s perception of an easily understandable object. The act of transforming the familiar to the peculiar and rendering useful tools useless.
By distorting reality, the artist references a number of layers of meaning: limitations, discriminations, violence, distancing as occurred during the pandemic, and finally, untouchability. For a generation that has grown up amidst different shortcomings and limitations, it is of utmost importance to find a way to speak out, or at least whisper.
Forcing clay, this primal material, and using intense heat to fuse and form ceramic pieces is akin to what a nation has been made to live with. Artists defy the confines of the mold and shake up the familiar scene. That is their strength and the power and merit of Iranian art.
Born in 1992, Ava Afshari received her BA from Tehran Art University. She has worked with diverse materials in her sculptural works as well as her thought-provoking installations, and this is her first solo exhibition.