Exhibition Review: The Erosion of Memory

Gallery Review: Student Gallery South

            Currently, the Student Gallery South in the Jot Travis Building at the University of Nevada, Reno is holding an exhibition titled “The Erosion of Memory.” The exhibition features the works of artist Bahareh Farahani who is also a masters student here at the university in the Fine Arts program. Bahareh states that her exhibition is a reflection of her journey from her home country of Iran to the United States. This journey came with a lot of lifestyle changes, as Bahareh went from being home, to being in a foreign place; from the Eastern way of living to Western culture. She reflects the idea that she had to create a new identity moving to the United States. In addition, she notes that the pieces display her “…longing from home, notions of personal identity and self-exploration through remembering, retelling, and reimagining.”

            Bahareh’s pieces range from paintings to shadow boxes that are illuminated in a dark space. Her pieces are presented in selections, the second one being my favorite. The series of paintings that Bahareh includes in this second series consists of a mosaic-looking backdrop that reflects those of Persian culture, with paints placed on top to make them semi-transparent. The paint looks almost like a thick buildup of wax on top of a Persian-looking tile. I found the tile patterns to be very intricate and eye-catching. I interpreted the waxy covering as a way to show how Bahareh might be covering up a bit of her cultural identity in order to incorporate herself more into Western culture, even though some of her cultural descent is able to shine through.

            Another one of her pieces was a white shadow box that was illuminated. A piece of transcript paper tops the front of the shadowbox, and within the box there is a drawing. The drawing is simple, and consists of paisley-like shapes that are filled to be black. This piece did not speak to me as much as the former piece I discussed; however, I did find it to be my focus in the dark room that it was placed in. It was interesting to see how the light in the shadow box almost gives the piece multiple dimensions in which you can see a background, horizon, foreground, etc.

            Overall, I think the gallery could have used bigger pieces, since the space was quite large for how small most of the works are. Also, it would have been nice to see a statement on each piece rather than a general overview of the entire gallery space. I know that personally, I have a particular set of feelings towards each individual piece of art I create and it would be nice to share that with an audience. I think that the most beautiful part of this exhibition happens to be the Eastern tile patterns used throughout the paintings. They are so intricate and beautiful that they immediately captured my attention, and I wish it was more prevalent in the gallery as a whole.