Passing traces

Passing traces

700 kg of halva – hand stirred flour, butter, shivering hot sugar syrup and soft cardamom flavour prepared by many strong hands. A Persian sweet traditionally prepared at funerals, collectively eaten it comforts the bereaved. Passing traces is a room of halva in a narrow passage-like space. The walls depict impressions of a sober bedroom interior. The furniture leaves traces of a long-lost presence. Just as life is finitely ungraspable, Passing traces follows its own lawless path, slowly decaying and visibly cracking due to gravity's weight.

Photography by Io Alexa Siversten

THESIS

A Skin Like Loam

The thesis ‘ A Skin Like Loam’ is an occasion for Narges to reflect thoroughly on her own practice in particular on a work she has shown previously during her studies. Using the method of auto-ethnography, she dives deep into the narrative structures, aesthetic choices and especially the use of the material loam and its symbolism. As a result she is able to articulate in much more detail the intentions and insights that might not have been on the forefront during the process of making the work. By shining light on these previous blind spots, she opens up new themes like displacement, Diaspora and political role of non-western female artists. These topics are rich and allow for more research and reflection. Hopefully these themes can become corner stones in the creation of a context for her own artistic practice. A structure not as a home, but to carve out a shared space of experiences, meeting ground for kindred spirits and inspiring dialogue that hopefully will keep on nourishing Narges' artistic practice.