I will meet you on the other side of the plains covered in violet

Violets, along with other flowers such as daffodils and primroses, are flowers that grow in cold and mild weather with all their beauty and tenderness. They are reminiscent of the passage of time and the contradictory presence of beauty in adversity. Violets grow in cold weather in late winter. For some, they are messengers of beauty and hope. In I will meet you on the other side of the plains covered with violet (2021), a couple of different narrations are embedded in the piece.

We have all been through the difficulties a brutal winter has to offer. Although in my country, (Iran) the winter has been lingering within the past few decades, through the enduring presence of oppression, repression, and tyranny. In difficult times, time loses its meaning, while sorrow endures.

The grief of losing loved ones who are taken away from us perpetuates. Of the loved ones we lost, only the sorrow and memories remain. Sadness takes on its own dynamic form. This grief becomes part of the mourner by nourishing their memories. For the mourner, these are the only valuable assets, for they are reminders of lost loved ones. Time does not alleviate grief but affixes itself to the daily quotidian.

In this installation, sadness is considered delicate, bold, and alluring like a flower persevering the cold. The future is uncertain. This sadness is the truest form of reality.

Two videos present a 24-hour video of the sky from varied times of the day. In these videos, the audience may see a bird jumping, a seagull flying amongst the clouds, or they might witness the Amen bird* flying in the night sky. It is not certain that all audiences will witness these moments. This sky is also unpredictable and full of small and silent signs.

There are two different soundscapes for this installation. One soundscape created for the daytime, and one for the night. Both are composed of folktales narrated in Farsi, mothers singing lullabies, seagulls screaming, crows cawing, birds chirping, and crickets singing. Participants can access the latter soundscapes through a QR code or the link.

* “Amen Bird” is a poem by Nima Youshij. In this poem, he portrays the modern man’s desires and wishes to attain freedom. The “Amen Bird” is a guardian of the oppressed and through its saying Amen, it beseeches the Lord to ward off the agonies of the destitute and grants them tidings of freedom, equality, and peace. Some of its lines read, “The homecoming Amen Bird, Afflicted and expelled, Has returned not to gain but with pain, To give a hand to the disdained.”

Artist Bio
Golaleh Yazdani (b. 1993, Iran), is a mixed media artist using video, sculpture, installation, and stop motion animation as part of her studio practice. Born and raised in Tehran, Iran, she received her BFA from the University of Art in Tehran, and she got her Master of Fine Arts at Maine College of Art in Portland, Maine, U.S.A. She has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in Tehran, Iran, and the United States of America.

Mixed media is Golaleh’s language. She is inspired by the theater and incorporates video, sculpture, and performance in her work.

Growing up in a conservative society with a dictatorial climate was a major influence on Golaleh’s studio practice. In her work, Golaleh talks about the suppression forced upon her family as a consequence of politics and cultural conditions. She describes how this suppression is passed down from one generation to the other and it has become a social identity.

Photo credit: Carolyn Wachnicki