Asal Peirovi
Peirovi’s practice explores the ambiguities of myth and imagination. In her mostly unstretched paintings, she interlaces elements of nature and architecture derived from her own personal memories and lived experiences. Her fragmented perspectives and layered forms—including mountains, bridges, vegetation, and architectural structures—allude to the tradition of Persian miniature paintings and present simultaneous narratives that poetically unfold across both time and space.
Persian miniatures became a significant genre in Persian art in the 13th century, expanding the art historical tradition of illuminated manuscripts. Unlike Western visual conventions that use one-point or multi-point perspective, these paintings follow a distinct approach. Receding objects are rendered with parallel lines that deliberately omit visual depth. Consequently, the horizon line is often positioned at the top of the image. This method allows artists to depict multiple events within a single frame, a technique known as simultaneity. Drawing on the traditions of her art historical predecessors, Peirovi embraces this multi-dimensional approach in her own work.
In Entwined, Peirovi presents a new series of paintings that recollect vague memories of her childhood home in Iran and its surroundings. The title of the exhibition refers to the blurred and entangled images that remain in the artist’s mind but also invokes the way a grapevine wraps itself around fences and structures. Using a tie-dye technique for the first time, Peirovi begins each painting by dyeing her canvases to create an abstract pattern reminiscent of Tash’ir—floral or zoomorphic motifs that form the borders of some Persian paintings. The tie-dyeing process inherently relinquishes full control over the artist’s materials, allowing for a level of spontaneity that aligns with the behavior of nature itself.
From these forms, Peirovi creates compositions that interweave architectural structures inspired by Persian-Islamic monuments and her own photographs of modern buildings and objects taken along nearby roads and mountains. The discordance between these lifeless structures and organic rock formations reflects the contrast and contradictions of the artist’s imagination. In The Quince Tree’s Visage (2024), Peirovi’s composition extends beyond the standard rectangle, which in Eastern culture often symbolizes the terrestrial realm. According to some scholars of Eastern art, when artists break or transcend the square or rectangle, it may signify a transition from the material world to the unknown celestial realm. Peirovi’s work operates within this liminal space, leaving room for multiple interpretations.
Asal Peirovi (b.1985, Sari, Mazandaran, Iran) received her BA in Painting from Shahed University in 2009 and her MA in Painting from the University of Art in Tehran in 2014. She has had solo exhibitions at STANDARD (OSLO), Oslo; Chapter NY, New York; Dastan Gallery, Tehran; and Shirin Art Gallery, Tehran. Her work has been included in group exhibitions at Yavuz Gallery, Redfern, AUS; STANDARD (OSLO), Oslo; Assar Art Gallery, Tehran; The Edinburgh Festival, Edinburgh; among others.