THE MIRROR
THE MIRROR
Acrylic & Color pencil on Wood board
150 x 80 cm
Borrowing the title of Tarkovsky’s 1975 film, “ The Mirror” by Alireza Shojaian elaborates on the theme of absence and stillness of time.
This representation is, in essence, the farthest thing from a selfportrait. The artist allows for underlying layers of meaning to quickly surface from deep within his work by presenting us with memories from his own past along with remnant memories borrowed from others.
In this work, the artist seeks atonement from his own self as he becomes conscious of the absence that fills his soul; of the stillness that stops his heart.
“The Mirror” is offering us to be reflective with the life inside ourselves, as James Elkins says “ It’s a stillness so naked that there is no where to go but to tears.” photo credits:
“Bashasha and a friend” by Heshem el Madani, late 1950, Saida, Lebanon
Arab Image Foundation, Akram Zaatari “SF Chronicle (Harvey Milk) ” Terry Schmitt, San Francisco, 1978
“Two men dancing” Robert Mapplethorpe, from “performance piece entitled The Power of Theatrical Madness by Jan Fabre, Antwerp, Belgium, 1984
“Artist’s military service official portrait” 2010, Tehran, Iran
“freedom” taken for Identity project, 2016, Beirut, Lebanon
