Where a Body Should Be
Oil on canvas 120 × 100 cm Still
Standing Oil on canvas 150 × 100 cm
The three paintings are based on images and stories of funerals in Iran that I encountered through news media and social platforms. The work relates to the protests in early 2026, during which many people, especially young individuals, were killed in encounters with state violence. The funerals became not only places of mourning, but also spaces for collective expression and resistance. In some cases, traditional rituals were transformed, and symbolic gestures took on new meanings in relation to the protests.
In these works, I explore rituals, grief, and absence through simple yet ambiguous symbols. A wedding ritual has been relocated to a grave. The image is inspired by funerals in which families used symbols from wedding ceremonies — such as mirrors, candles, sugar, and white cloths — traditionally associated with hope, happiness, and the beginning of a shared life. When these symbols are used in relation to death, a shift occurs: a ritual that usually marks a beginning instead becomes an image of an abrupt ending.
In other cases, wedding dresses were worn during the funerals of young women who had been killed, or for couples whose lives together never had the chance to begin. These acts affected me deeply and became central to the development of the visual language of the works. Sunflowers are central in another painting. During a memorial ceremony for one of those who was killed, mourners carried sunflowers, which had been his favorite flower. While the flower functioned as a tribute to an individual life, it also moved toward the collective, becoming a symbol of a shared experience of loss and resistance.
The work is also deeply personal to me. Being far away from my family in Iran creates a sense of distance and helplessness. For me, these works are a way of responding to what has happened and preserving the memory of the lives that have been lost.
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