"the artist's newest body of work responds to an urgent question precipitated by the catastrophic events of the past year: What does one do when the world collapses? The works attempt to make sense of her experience of the fire and its enduring aftermath, while continuing her exploration of the poetics of loss, displacement, and migration. Kahraman views these works as an offering, a libation, to a burning world."
"The figures act as talismans, summoning relief and protection from calamity and disaster. One talisman appearing in several of the paintings, a magic square, was painted following the instructions of one of the earliest books on Sufi magic written by Sufi master al-Būnī. With Arabic inscriptions buried in the swirling surfaces of the paintings, Kahraman references a mystical phoenix-like bird called the Anqā, who dwells at the edge of the world and is reborn through fire."
Paintings completed after the 2025 Eaton Fire in Altadena address collapse, loss, displacement, and migration. The works function as offerings, libations to a burning world. Surfaces incorporate handmade flax and marbling techniques that evoke material ritual and magic. Female figures perform enigmatic rituals—sewing a strand of tears, revealing portals, whirling and swinging long hair—acting as talismans that summon relief and protection. A recurring magic square follows instructions from an early Sufi magical text by al-Būnī. Arabic inscriptions and references to the Anqā phoenix and the Barzakh liminal space link the imagery to spiritual rebirth and threshold landscapes in the wildland–urban interface.
Read at Juxtapoz
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]