Setareh Shahbazi

Spectral Days

Shahbazi’s early drawings in the series Oh No… are reminiscent of comic strips or children’s coloring books. Subjects are rendered graphically and set against flat solid colors. The origin of these drawings is a mix of her own collection of images and the Arab Image Foundation’s collection in Beirut, Lebanon. Shahbazi’s most recent work Spectral Days takes an introspective turn through a series of photomontages that are based on hundreds of roughly scanned family photographs. Creating spectral figures, Shahbazi delves into the loaded history of her family’s exile from Iran following the revolution. Like the rest of her work, which is built on the logic of free association, these images resist a literal or a linear reading while simultaneously speaking of and surpassing the context from which they were born. Shabazi’s solo presentations are often playful, her photographs of various sizes dialogue with contextual objects and architectural elements.