Elham Shafaei
We are Lost
40X40
Ink on Canvas
2018

Elham Shafaei
We are Lost

[26 April- 1 May 2019]

The notion of Loss has been an integral part of Elham’s artistic temperament. In fact, Loss is a rather universal phenomenon for we all begin with a fundamental Loss, which is that of the maternal body. We began our being as a continuity with another body and become an individual by virtue of the cutting of the umbilical cord and thus we fell into the world. We enter the world as foreigners and forever submit ourselves to a profound sense of not belonging. Our existence will always be structured by Loss and Unbelonging, which entail our eternal desire to belong. Love, family, friendship, patriotism, even work itself are among the names of this desire. Elham’s art extends the names of this desire through melancholic faces, cuttings and stitches that express the idea of being removed, displaced, transplanted and re-attached.
Dr. Izmer Ahmad