Golestan Gallery in Tehran hosted the creations of a female artist whose semi-figurative art works use elements such as female figures, sewing machines and textiles.
‘Penelope’s Passion’, displayed 20 works using textiles. “I have employed a completely different method using textiles as a medium in the paintings. All works depict figures of women working with a sewing machine. I tried to introduce little girls’ dresses or prayer chador,” Elham Bayati said speaking to ISNA.
Both woman and sewing machines are repeated in each painting, with the former representing Iranian women. “That is the reason I used Iranian textile. My style and expression method is semi-figurative since I believe every collection needs a title so the audience is not lost,” the artist stated.
Legendary
She chose ‘Penelope’s Passion’ as the title for her collection in remembrance of the historic figure, Penelope, from Homer’s ‘Odyssey’. She is a woman who loses her husband in war and has lots of suitors as she is beautiful. She rejects them all with the excuse that she needs to finish the sewing. Every night, she unravels all she has sewn during the day so she can wait for her lost husband to return. Penelope is the legend of faithfulness.
“Women and sewing machines are only pretexts for me to play with textile patterns and color. The paintings are all subjective and improvised with no previous thinking. I believe the visitor should find what he or she seeks in my works. Since they have been created impromptu they have a ‘frank encounter’ with the viewer,” she added.
This is Bayati’s 4th solo exhibition. She has had over 30 group exhibitions within and outside Iran. Bayati is a member of Iran Painters Association and received her Master’s degree from Tehran’s Art University in 2003.
The exhibits were displayed from September 5 to 10 in Golestan Gallery in Tehran.
