Drawing on light

• Site-Specific Installation , Performance, 2019
• Mixed-media, installation dimensions: 12 x 16 ft
• In an enclosed geometric space in the corner of the gallery, Nooshin Rostami projects light through a single glass globe, creating plays of light and shadow in the interior surfaces of the structure. The artist uses light and shadow to question conceptions of perceived truths – do we find ourselves tied to the binaries of reality or fiction, truth or lie, or do we mediate an existence between the two? In deploying Plato’s Allegory of the Cave as a means of thinking about religious affiliations and fixed interpretations of political doctrines, Rostami plays the role of illusionist, creating a space for viewers to explore the interrelationship between shadows and physical objects, encouraging us to examine the fluidity and rigidity of our own beliefs. The shadow inside the globe takes physical form, resembling an eye that seems to look back at the spectator. Only one person may enter at one time.

Drawing On Light

Performance in memory of my father
Year: 2019
Venue: BRIC

This performance activated the installation Drawing On Light on the same day Nooshin Rostami's father passed away in Iran, at a moment when they were not unable to travel home to be present for his funeral. Unable to attend in person, the artist created a series of live light drawings inside the installation, accompanied by live music, to reach him across that distance.

The performance included a personal note from her father, their last written correspondence, in which he had translated a section of a poem by Rumi specifically for the installation. It reads:

Oh son, I am pure light.

Do not mistake me for a handful of dust

I am not a seashell devoid of pearl

But the pearl deserving a king's bust