Scarlet Lament: The Vanishing Urmia
2023
Fabric Dye On Cotton
98 x 50 inch
2023
Fabric Dye On Cotton
98 x 50 inch
Elegy of Urmia: A Spectrum of Desiccation
2023
Acrylic on cotton and sheer fabric
each piece 98 x 50 inch
2023
Acrylic on cotton and sheer fabric
each piece 98 x 50 inch
Elegy of Urmia: A Spectrum of Desiccation/ Installation View
Elegy of Urmia: A Spectrum of Desiccation/ Installation Process
Thses works seeks to capture the extensive environmental challenges surrounding Lake Urmia, Iran's largest Salt Lake. Over the past two decades, water shortages have adversely affected wildlife, nearby communities, and tourism, escalating salinity levels with repercussions on surface and underground water resources. With historical and symbolic significance, the lake faces a critical moment, evident in the announced drying out in August 2023 post unsuccessful water transfer projects. Through my artistic response in a five-panel installation, I depict the lake's evolution using cotton fabric to symbolize its significance in blue, representing life. The subsequent panels on sheer fabric in yellow to red intensities depict diminishing water levels, emphasizing the vital link between life and the lake. This choice of sheer fabric, for its transparency, symbolizes enduring hope for the lake's recovery and preserves memories of its pristine state in the Iranian collective consciousness.
