"A Trip to Gloom and Beauty"
Ebrahim Haghighi's recent series "Gloom" is an exploration in the field of painting, reminding
us of how the brief two-year period of the corona virus lockdown with all its boring ups and
downs, became a time for one to face one’s reality by climbing the depressing barriers of
staying-at- home and transcending the pain of its darkness. Haghighi is a curious and restless
artist who has dabbled in many fields of the arts such as painting, graphic arts, calligraphy,
photography and filmmaking and this time he is searching for his lost memories in quarantine
confinement through painting.
As travelling was no longer an option during the quarantine, the artist looks back to his past
memories and relives them by painting on his old photographs with pastel. The photos are no
longer just images of nature and take on a new meaning, emphasizing concepts of loneliness,
nostalgia, and separation. Like shots from a post-apocalyptic film plot where the universe in all
its grandeur and beauty, continues to exist without human presence, the images now exude a
sense of silence, mania and the glory of nature as they become paintings.
By taking us on a journey to the past, Ebrahim Haghighi reminds us of the eternal existence,
presence and regeneration of nature, which continues to thrive despite all odds.
Amir Soghrati