FiveMyles gallery
558 St. Johns Place
Brooklyn, NY 11238
Monika Fabijanska in conversation with Roya Amigh and Haleh Liza
accompanying Roya Amigh's solo exhibition,
ROYA AMIGH
IN MY SLEEP I MIGRATE BACK
August 5 - 27, 2017
Thu-Sun, 1-6 PM, or by appointment
Opening Reception: Saturday, August 5, 4:30-7 PM
“In recreating imagery that pieces together elements of different legends depicted in Persian miniature, I am able to question the complexities in the stories of Iranian women," says Roya Amigh. In her meticulous installations, she employs mythical figures from the poetry of Persian classics: Ferdowsi, Rumi, and Hafez. Large numbers of tiny drawings, created by gluing thread onto paper, are then assembled together resulting in fragile structures that reflect the ephemeral quality of memories suspended in space.
Persian storytelling is not linear; it relies on stories passed down from one person to another, where truth and fiction merge. Amigh says, “Echoing the natural distortions of memory, I create my own version of this mythology, featuring stories that happened to me or to the women I know.”
From her complex, elaborate installations – whether tiny or wall-size – whole armies of personages spill out to form complicated narratives. In that sense, thread and paper become an extension of her diary. Amigh interweaves mythical beings and horrifying real events, turning traditional miniature into clouds of scrolls that resemble sets for a puppet theater.
In her first New York City show, at the FiveMyles gallery, the artist investigates her own biography in its personal and political dimensions as her works gain fully sculptural quality.
Haleh Liza is a poet, vocalist, and translator. Her poems were published by Columbia University Press and Rattapallax Press, and she is currently working on a book of Rumi translations. She has recited her own poems and translations at venues such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and has led workshops in which she explores Rumi’s poetry at Dartmouth University, University of Cincinnati, and the Wanderlust festival. Haleh has performed at the David Byrne-curated series at Carnegie Hall, the Bonnaroo Festival, UNC Chapel Hill, Celebrate Brooklyn the Mimi Fest, and the World Music Fest in Chicago, and she performed songs featuring the lyrics of Rumi at the Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival.