Kayne Griffin is pleased to present Afterimages, an exhibition of new works by Rosha Yaghmai. Comprised of new paintings on organza, Afterimages continues Yaghmai’s exploration of the potential for the psychedelic inhabiting other/remote spaces, times, and dimensions. Her multifaceted work seeks to unearth hidden histories and esoteric knowledge ingrained in the genetic material of the body.
In this latest group of works, Yaghmai has turned to autobiographical material. Informed by the fantastic landscapes of the Persian miniatures on view in her childhood home, Yaghmai explores the dissembling of myth and history as they are represented in these works of art. Her dark, luminescent “afterimages” obscure and abstract the miniature in order to investigate the processes of distortion, estrangement, and assimilation of inheritance.
In Afterimages, Yaghmai removes the historical figures from her source material, abstracting and zooming in on the landscapes of the miniatures. Through this process, the work favors distortion over representation. The original connotations of the miniature are obscured and the viewer is provided a fresh space for contemplation and can now find new meaning in the compositions. Invoking the aesthetics of lenticular prints, Yaghmai layers painted organza to create depth and moiré patterns within the enhanced scenes. When viewed from different angles, the work begins to shift across the compositional plane. The viewer cannot focus on one image but is left instead with an impression of a vivid sensation within the eye. In these afterimages, Yaghmai creates an entirely new interior landscape, at once familiar and foreign.
Rosha Yaghmai lives and works in Los Angeles, California. She received her MFA from CalArts in 2007. Selected exhibitions include: Miraclegrow, curated by Leila Grothe, The Wattis Institute, San Francisco, CA; Made in LA curated by Erin Christovale and Anne Ellegood, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA; The Domestic Plane curated by Amy Smith-Stewart, and David Adamo, Aldrich Museum, Ridgefield, CT; Mad World curated by Ali Subotnick, Marciano Foundation, Los Angeles, CA; Virginia Woolf: An exhibition inspired by her Writings curated by Laura Smith, Tate ST. Ives, Cornwall, UK, amongst others. Yaghmai is a Terra Foundation Fellow, Giverny, France (2009), a Villa Aurora Fellow, Berlin, Germany (2016), a recipient of the California Community Foundation grant (2019), The Chara Schreyer Arts Initiative (2020), and the Bullseye Glass Residency (2021).
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