In the “Poïétique” collection, Elham Etemadi drags out images from the archives of her mind, and fuses
them together with dreams and games, and puts them in the frames of her paintings. The concept of
playing is very important in all of Etemadi’s works, and she playfully but consciously keeps some initial
layers of the work intact, layers that reveal to us the connection between the initial ideas and forms and
the final
Not hiding these initial layers gives these pieces a sense of unfinishedness and reveals parts of the
process of painting to the viewer. She constructs her compositions with geometrical shapes, sketch
lines, and human and animal figures, and creates a space for us to get lost and explore in her paintings
She portrays familiar forms using the energy from space around her and expressive states, forms that are
reminders of memories and familiar feelings for the viewer and tend to create strong emotional content.
Her figure paintings are full of energy and the undetermined limit of the elements makes them even
more dynamic. The bright, sharp, and lively colors encourage the viewer to explore and discover in the
piece, and the eyes to move around in the painting
This sense of liberation in the compositions shows disarray in order, and the entire process of creation
from the artist’s mind to the final moment in the painting can be witnessed
The exaggerated shapes and colors and oscillating forms represent the anxieties of our lives today and
the use of contradicting and multi-dimensional elements helps us find a different understanding of them
These pieces slowly change in the process of formation, and sometimes the borders between these
forms tangle together, and sometimes we witness clear and determined borders. This slippery space
between abstraction and figures gives an air of ambiguity to the whole piece.
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Happenstance is a key element in Etemadi’s work, but she controls these happenings inside the frames
of her paintings and so we are not faced with sheer chaos. The role of happenstance and Etemadi’s
endeavors to control – or not control- them, is very bold in her work and involves the viewer in the
relations among the subjects in the paintings, So that the viewer gradually forgets about the main
theme; The theme that generally speaks of a combination of the artist’s fantasies, day to day boredoms,
and her memories
Etemadi aims not to control the viewer, but to get them to accompany her in her play with images and
wide and clear colors, to reach a point of great pleasure, and to be able to curiously recreate concepts
in their own imagination
The word “Poïéique” in French, is similar to “Poiesis” in English and is rooted in ancient Greek. It means
the moment of creation, similar to what happens in poetry. Poïétique is a concept that broadly points to
any kind of artistic creation, meaning building, or an action that leads to transformation, in a moment of
happiness or climax, changing from one thing to another.