Anahita Bagheri
To you dignified women; They thought They would intimidate and force us to retreat by attacking, raping, and violating women. but you, the nameless and unknown, did not retreat, but pushed Them back.
Image caption: Anahita Bagheri, To you dignified women; They thought They would intimidate and force us to retreat by attacking, raping, and violating women. but you, the nameless and unknown, did not retreat, but pushed Them back., 2024. Steel, handmade papier-mâché, and acrylic paint. 106 x 150 x 84 inches.
The Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Gallery displayed my artwork in the exhibition yet traces linger, curated by Sarah Cho and running from May 13 to June 1, 2024.
In To you dignified women; They thought They would intimidate and force us to retreat by attacking, raping, and violating women. but you, the nameless and unknown, did not retreat, but pushed Them back., I employ Eslimi and Khataei motifs from historical Persian art and architecture, converting them from their traditional two-dimensional format to 3D. The dark structure suggests delicate calligraphy while piercing through space. I transform steel, a rigid, unyielding material, into something more organic by using papier-mâché and adorning the structure with flowers. The sculpture’s floral elements contrast with the severity of the structure that controls bodily movement from within. By combining beauty and violence in a single structure, I poetically explore resistance to systems of oppression.
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