Mojdeh Rezaeipour at Olly Olly

by Andy Johnson
Response > Fairfax, Virginia
June 2, 2018

A suspicious lack of foliage, amongst a variety of branches and twigs, becomes apparent as one enters the gallery space at Olly Olly. With stems suspended from the ceiling, attached to the walls, and planted in miniature clay pots, the life cycle of nature is held in limbo. Are they dormant, about to spring new life? Or are they nearing their end? On view at Olly Olly, Fractal Futures, a solo exhibition by DMV-based Iranian-American artist Mojdeh Rezaeipour, is, as she notes, “an archaeological search for wholeness and belonging.”

(L): Mojdeh Rezaeipour, First, we must unfurl, 2018, tree branch, baby fern, seashell, wood
(R): Mojdeh Rezaeipour, Let go; Deep Rest; Big Dreams, 2018, paper, tree branch, miniature pot, soil

The use of leaves, soil, branches, and beeswax, amongst other materials, is not unusual for Rezaeipour, whose practice is deeply rooted in nature, spirituality, and the life cycles of construction and deconstruction. The artist’s work mimics, in many ways, the rhythm of the world around us. Most interestingly, Rezaeipour is invested in a deeply layered symbology and system of signification. Installed as triptychs, four sets of wood-carved heptagons are intentionally filled with natural materials - soil, twigs, fern leaves, portions of beehives, snakeskin, and a seashell. As far back as Ancient Egypt, religions have relied on the number three as a sign of equilibrium. The number four is a symbol of the terrestrial world (earth, wind, fire, air). Added together, the number seven finds its place between a position of life and death, completing the cycle of life, a theme that Rezaeipour is indebted to as she seeks a completeness.  

Mojdeh Rezaeipour, In Tension (Part 2) (top) and
In Tension (Part 1) (bottom), 2018, paper, moss, pyrography on wood

Mojdeh Rezaeipour, This Is How (Iran | America), Part 4, 2018
fern, acrylic, pyrography on wood

Fern leaves, which for those who follow numerology is associated with the number seven, are thought to bring about a life of happiness and bounty. Perhaps utilized in the same way as the four-leaf clover, the placement of the fern leaf throughout the exhibition alludes to our collective want for wholeness. The inclusion of beehives illustrates the long constitutive relationship between humans and bees, alluding to our inextricable, and at this moment perilous, tie to the earth.

The notion of a “fractal,” which in geometry is a naturally occuring, never-ending pattern (think of a snowflake), and its companion the “future,” signifies that the future is both hypothetically never-ending and never fully knowable. Rezaeipour does not obfuscate her dual identity as an Iranian-American, she rightfully embraces and celebrates it. Nor does she hide from the journey of healing, of imagining a future that provides space for individual and collective healing. Fractal Futures envisions the integral role of nature in our collective growth and change.

Mojdeh Rezaeipour, We grow in fractals (detail), 2018 
paper, beehive, dried fern, wood

Mojdeh Rezaeipour, First, we must unfurl (detail), 2018
tree branch, baby fern, seashell, wood

Fractal Futures is on view May 12 - June 23, 2018.

Mojdeh Rezaeipour is an Iranian-American mixed media artist and storyteller. Her semi-autobiographical work explores the duality of her childhood in Iran and the disembodied nature of the immigrant experience through a constant deconstruction and reconstruction of memory and understanding. She is currently pursuing a self-directed masters as a part of Alt*Div with an emphasis on art as spiritual practice, and has exhibited locally at venues such as Arlington Arts Center (VA),  IA&A (DC), Katzen Art Center (DC), Target Gallery (VA), Olly Olly (VA) and Strathmore Mansion (MD).  

mojdeh.art

Andy Johnson is a DC-based art historian, curator, and arts writer. He is Director of Gallery 102 at the Corcoran School of the Arts & Design; contributing editor at DIRT; serves on the curatorial and sales team for Art on the Vine, hosted by the Agora Culture; is the 2018 Apprentice Curator at the DC Arts Center; and serves on ArtWorks for Freedom's Artist Activist Advisory Council. He has published articles, exhibition reviews, and catalogue essays with DIRT, The Chart, Common Field’s Field Perspectives, Gallery 102, and DCAC. He has upcoming exhibitions with DC Arts Center, and the Agora Culture. He holds a M.A. in Art History from The George Washington University.

andydjohnson.com

Founded in 2014 by Jessica Kallista, Olly Olly is a call for local artists to come out from their hiding places to make and show their art in a nurturing, creative, alternative art space. Olly Olly is also a call to the community to come out, support, and benefit from an art scene that helps our community prosper and helps to provide an authentic, art filled environment.  Olly Olly promotes collaboration rather than competition and provides artist and writer studios, an incubator space, as well as a gallery, open studio, and VIP event space for the community.

Olly Olly
10417 Main St., 2nd Floor
Fairfax, VA 22030
703-789-6144

ollyollyart.com

RESPONSE
A feature of project reviews experienced in person. Response will provide artists with much needed critical response to their work. Response is opinion-based but is not an op-ed.