ORKIDEH TORABI: SNEAK PEEK: BACKSTAGE STORIES
Nino Mier Gallery is pleased to announce Sneak Peek: Backstage Stories, an exhibition of the paintings by Brooklyn-based artist Orkideh Torabi.
September 12 – October 26, 2024
A keen sense for flexibility and adaptability structures both the formal processes and thematic concerns of the exhibition. Torabi, whose work has long been interested in Iranian cultural politics and the Iranian women’s movement, notes that her life experience in Iran in the past was characterized by a need to “accept and navigate boundaries beyond my control.” She parses those dynamics with humor and beauty through the exhibition’s paintings.
To create them, she must embrace unpredictability, too, allowing imperfections to shape the narrative of her work. The volatility of the monoprinting process especially informs the final forms of Torabi’s canvases: she paints a screen with one color of dye, then transfers it onto cotton or canvas. She repeats the painting and printing process with various hues for up to fifty layers. This process embraces unpredictability, allowing imperfections to shape the narrative of her work.
Torabi also displays a strong interest in the genre of royal portraits, historical representations of people in power meant to express their virtues to viewers. Torabi’s paintings, however, subvert these conventions, depicting figures with exaggerated, whimsical features that reveal vulnerability and absurdity instead. “I saw an opportunity to use these settings to create my own narrative, depicting figures with clownish appearances, elongated noses, and a sense of confusion to challenge conventional images of authority,” says Torabi.
The artist's recent visit to Iran significantly influenced this body of work, especially her panel paintings. “I visited Golestan Palace in Tehran, which is adorned with intricate tiles and patterns throughout its structure. These ornate designs, often featuring images of royalty, inspired me to create organic shapes as backgrounds for my portraits.”