Iranian visual artist Shirin Abedinirad (1986) places nature at the centre of her research. After a period devoted entirely to performances, staged throughout Iran – in which she tackled dense themes such as gender issues, sexuality and human compassion – today Shirin devotes herself fully to land art. Her installations, often set in desert settings, draw on the surrealist sphere, especially in her choice of object. Doors and stairs are recurrent protagonists of her installations, always accompanied by the element of the mirror, which acquires a relevant semantic aspect. Structural elements that are usually functional, here lose their original purpose. Realistically, they lead to nothing, to no other environment, to no real place. The mirror component, however, creates a possibility and transforms everyday objects into possible portals to another, mostly inner and intimate dimension. For Shirin Abedinirad, the intention is to generate in the viewer a question, “Who or what do we encounter crossing that border? Who do we see reflected in the door?“

Courtesy Shirin Abedinirad