Hedieh Javanshir Ilchi

Over the past year, we have all had to creatively reimagine how we connect, find comfort, and ultimately, feel safe. Whether it be through newfound hobbies, digital connection, or the expansion of existing practices, it has been imperative to find something positive to hold onto. Hedieh Javanshir Ilchi found solace in the company of nature. As a means of survival, she reconnected with her environment beyond the concrete structures of the city to endure the long periods of isolation. She found the connection that she needed there to stay grounded in the midst of social and political strife, and found inspiration for a new body of work.

This connection to landscape is revealed in the series of paintings featured in Hedieh Javanshir Ilchi: Listen to the night as it makes itself hollow. Each piece resembles an abstracted landscape, with suggestions of space and topographical imagery. Ilchi subtly points to landscape in these works to reflect on both her internal and external experience; to capture the complexities of human response. The artist worked on all of the pieces simultaneously, intuitively, with no preconceived direction. Moving across each painting’s surface, Ilchi combines color pours reminiscent of abstract expressionism with traditional, highly detailed Iranian painting technique known as Tazhib. Through the process of combining, layering, hiding, and revealing, she instills cohesion between the two drastically different styles, ultimately, making them one. Keeping the color palettes and landscape motifs consistent as she works on each painting, she creates a profound sense of connectedness across all of the paintings in the series. The artist worked with a dark, deep palette of green and blue hues, manifesting a kind of melancholia, offset by a few brighter bursts of light. This use of color reveals our collective sense of sorrow with the brighter elements dissolving away from the darkness to remind us of our persisting hope for change.