Artist Aazam Irilian Offers a Stunning Look at Memory and Loss

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At the Main Theater in Santa Clarita last month, artist Aazam Irilian presented a sensitive, impactful, and beautiful exploration of memory – and how fragile and meaningful our memories are in human life. Preserved Memories, her exhibition on the impact and progression of dementia,  packed a powerful and poignant punch.

Consisting of five different major sections, Irilian’s work depicted personal and moving stories through a varied and immersive mix of mediums including sculptural assemblages and recorded stories. The exhibition also allowed space for visitors to write their own stories.

In the exhibition’s “Traditional Bodies,” a series of delicately rendered graphite drawings of brain cells, neurons and more are intricately revealed in stylized bodies on panels of white fabric.

A series of “Shredded Mind Panels,” created on canvas panels in richly colored red darkening to shades of brick, are used to depict the loss of memory. Holes in the panels represent the losses caused by dementia,  as the canvases gradually turn into trailing, shredded surfaces.

Perhaps the most compelling element of the exhibition is the titular “Preserved Memories,” a series of sculptural assemblages created out of personal memorabilia and preserved in salt. Stories that relate to the sculptures are a part of the recorded messages and memories section of the show. The sculptures themselves are haunting and nuanced, puzzle pieces of a life, the meaning of each piece transitory.

The haunting sculptural assemblages are, Irilian says, the focal points of the exhibition, which is not surprising to hear given the intensity and complexity of these works. Each represents an individual’s stories. According to the artist, “The soccer player piece is made of my husband’s soccer gears as referee. He was an engineer and played soccer most of his life. He also had coached and was a referee for the last 20 plus years.”

Using a variety of salts and mineral solutions as a part of her creative process, Irilian created a layered depth to her sculptures which arose from painted work. “The textures you see on my paintings are results of interaction of mineral solutions with paint. With each series, I aim to push the use of mineral solutions to a different level. With this installation, I pushed myself to see how I can grow and use these crystals off the canvas, onto the objects.” She notes that “Salt has been used as a preserving agent over the ages. The point here was to use the salt as the metaphor—preserving memories that are fading away.”

And in the series “Fading Family Portraits,” photographs printed on Duralar clear paper depict families of different cultural backgrounds who have suffered from dementia, revealing that the disease is not discriminatory and can strike any family, regardless of heritage. In a succession of photos, each face appears less and less clear, with ghostlike faces gradually fading away altogether, emblematic of how recognizability fades for a person with Alzheimer’s.

Each of these exhibition sections are evocative and sensorial, creating in the viewer a sensation of loss and legacy, of both the joy and pain of remembering.

Irilian does not approach her subject uninformed. She was both wife and caregiver to a husband who suffered from dementia. Dealing with both her own and his sense of loss keenly, her work movingly stresses that despite fading memory and a loss of identity itself, the afflicted person will not fade from our own memories and hearts.

The exhibition is important not just to Irilian personally but to so many, with the strong possibility that by the year 2050, those 65 and older suffering from Alzheimer’s are estimated to reach the daunting number of 12.7 million affected individuals.

This is not Irilian’s first installation work. The artist created the exhibition “Dare to be a Woman” at CSUN in 2004, and “Stoning” in 2005. Both employed a variety of mediums in their representation of violence against women in Iran. In “Stoning,” part of a 5-woman exhibition, she used a plaster cast of her daughter’s body. In short, the artist is no stranger to using the personal to represent a more universal situation.

Preserved Memories very much expands on these and other past work of the artist, who terms herself “a curious person…[who] wants to learn as much as possible, and that includes learning about how things are made and work. I feel installation is just another way, another tool in my bag of tricks that I can use to bring an idea into form.” Irilian never prefers one medium over another, she says. “It is about what medium can help me to bring in to form the idea or the concept.”

She strives to tell a story through her art, as well as to “create an experience or evoke an emotion. I want the viewer to bring her/his experience into each piece and find or form his own story viewing the work.” With Preserved Memories, she relates that most of all, she wanted to bring attention to the devastating disease, and impress a human face upon it, while “communicating the fact that the person we love is still there.”

Irilian plans to grow Preserved Memories as an exhibition, expanding the sculptural assemblages representing shared stories, and presenting the show in as many different venues as possible with her goal to improve understanding of Alzheimer’s and elevate compassion for both those suffering from the disease, as well as for those caring for their loved ones.

To do so, she’s seeking more stories on which to base her assemblages. “The stories told by loved ones are the most meaningful part of this project. I collected these stories through a Google number I set up (661) 347-6849. People can call and leave their stories without having to talk to anyone.” She encourages others now to call and share, and explains “The purpose of the stories is to honor and remember a memory that brings joy to the heart and a smile to the face. Like the woman who at the end of her life, opened her eyes and told her daughter, ‘I love you.”’Or my husband, who [when] seeing soccer games on TV, would light up… it was something he could still remember.”

The more people share their stories, she says, the more such projects are seen, and the more attention that will be brought to the disease.  “And maybe at some point, we find a cure for it,” she says. “To put a human face on this disease, honor memory of our loved ones…I can only do that by people being courageous and willing to share their stories.”

Following this tenet, Irilian has created a brave exhibition that reveals the face of the disease and its impact on those afflicted as well as on the people who love them. Viewers will feel the pain, but also life – and memory’s – impactful, aching, beauty.

  • Genie Davis; photos provided by the artist and by LA Art Documents

Leaving Eden: Samuelle Richardson and Snezana Saraswati Petrovic

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Climate change has made the idea of leaving Eden, our planet earth, all too real a prospect.  What happens to the flora and fauna, the animal life – including the human animal – if we allow the continued environmental apocalypse to continue? Art has often stood in the forefront of calling attention to and presenting an action call for salient issues. It has awakened viewers to the necessity for change, to the beauty of the world around us, and provided a sense of hope for the future. So, too, does Leaving Eden, coming February 11th to Keystone Gallery in Lincoln Heights.

The collaborative exhibition between Samuelle Richardson and Snezana Saraswati Petrovic will fill viewers with the joy of Richardson’s expressive textile animals and Petrovic’s immersive flowers, trees, and glistening waters. Gallery visitors will move – as the flourishing creatures and landscape in this art world do – from their lush, green, and blue Eden to a dry, desert world, where all life must struggle for food and water — with hope that they can return to Eden again.

Divided into two rooms: an Edenic garden and a desert filled with Joshua Trees and cacti, the two artists have combined their gifts to create a vision to cherish and consider, one that expresses the beauty of nature and our vital need to protect it.

Richardson describes the journey viewers will take as a circular one, revealing what it is like to live in and leave our Eden and then try to create a more “pristine world…a circular journey back to square one [where] flora and fauna prevail.”

Petrovic says “As an immigrant, I am in search for an idyllic version of the home that I have lost due to war. My realization was that the real home for all of us is the Earth, and for me, it represents Eden, the most diverse and idyllic garden of all.” To prepare for the exhibition, she began to draw studies of plants in Huntington Gardens, Joshua Tree, the Salton Sea, and Oahu, Hawaii. She adds that mythologically the “idea of Eden is connected to the human need for a place of immortality,  an ideal place for human habitation with lush beauty, and it exists not just in Christianity but… is [expressed as] Jannāt ʿAdni in the Quran or [as] Pure Lands in Buddhism…in all of these gardens, there are always references to infinity and transformation.”

Both artists express that sense of transformation in their work. For Richardson, “New work begins with a mental picture of the subject, then I research pictures that express the type of character I want.  I build up each figure in stages to achieve gesture and expression, working with the pictures as a bridge to discovery.”  Here you will see lions, birds, wild dogs, and even a few humans created by the artist.

Petrovic was in part inspired to create her mixed media sculptures of zip ties and dry natural plants from references to the Byzantine traditional blue depictions of Eden, with video installation elements culled from her Oahu and Big Island residencies, while the desert installation was inspired by the Salton Sea and it’s “white shore with fish skeletons turned into mineral dust,” and uses a white, orange, and blue palette – skeletons, sun and sky – in her work in the Desert room.

Visitors to the exhibition will also be able to interact with some of Petrovic’s work through AR and the use of iPads in the exhibition or through their own smart phones. The AR depictions reveal dry dirt transforming with a live, growing seedling, what she calls a “symbolic shift of the wheel of fortune from global catastrophe to renewal and healing.”

Richardson and Petrovic greatly enjoyed working together on this project. “It’s uncanny how much Snezana and I have in common regarding our worldview and how we have advanced as artists.  Our collaboration also included outings to Huntington Gardens to observe and compare our impressions on nature,” Richardson says.

Petrovic relates that “We would immerse ourselves in different parts of the gardens, and have conversations related to the nature of different environments, desert versus rain forest. We were looking at the shapes and relationships between flora and negative spaces…we shared some images of our previous works and investigated the works of Henri Rousseau and Hieronymus Bosch.”

She adds that “Sam’s dogs, tigers and birds are bringing my environments and sculptural installations to life. I cannot wait to see all of them being brought together into this unique project!”

Richardson brought to the exhibition new ideas inspired from a recent residency in Rome, and a fascination with the Etruscan culture, which Petrovic also finds compelling.  “We both agree that our creations are coming from the ‘same world’ of connectedness to feminine history as well as our own past design experiences. Sam’s fashion industry experiences brought a deep understanding of patterning, fabric and thread use into her sculptures. My interest in the relationship between space versus object is from professional experience as a production/set and costume designer,” Petrovic relates.

Richardson has added to her wire, foam, and fabric sculptures – with the “fabric covering my work emulating glaze on ceramic” with a new artistic expression – in woodwork. “I am building shapes that resemble boats, joining and cutting pine lumber [for the exhibition.]”

Petrovic has included her latest experiments in organic bioplastic, also using dry plants and palm leaves in the exhibition. She says taht she has long been driven toward reimagining the future, beginning with a residency at the Pomona Art Colony under Judy Chicago examining the “current and future scientific predicament of global ecological catastrophe…if we do not protect our home, there will be nowhere to go. Leaving Eden was a natural progression of my exploration of gardens and homes within the looming danger of climate change and plastic overuse.  It added another layer to my imagined world of the future. I see this whole experience as a love poem to the Earth, our own impermanence and existence that might have a chance for a replay.”

Richardson, Petrovic, and I, as conceptualizing curator, all encourage you to visit our Eden and its aftermath and look toward that replay, one which our world all too dearly needs.

Leaving Eden holds its opening Saturday, February 11th from 6 to 9 p.m.; an artist’s talk and closing event will be held Saturday, February 25th at 4 p.m. Additional gallery hours Thursday-Sunday by appointment.

Keystone Gallery is located at 338 S Avenue 16, Los Angeles, CA 90031

  • Genie Davis; photos by Genie Davis and Samuelle Richardson

Jewel of a Stay – Hassayampa Inn

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With its ruby red bricks and courtyard, a lobby with a perfectly preserved shining tile floor, and a carefully staff-operated elevator, the Hassayampa Inn in Prescott, Ariz. is an elegant, old-fashioned gem.

Lovingly cared for, the lobby features a beautiful mural painted over a burnished fireplace, comfortable reading chairs and warmly lit  lamps, and best of all, a convivial atmosphere that makes guests feel welcome and then less like guests and more like welcome visitors.

Located in the historic downtown area of Prescott, Arizona, a short stroll from the galleries, dining, and historic saloons of Whiskey Row, the Hassayampa maintains a lustrous dignity, formal without being fussy.

The hotel’s history glows as much as the hotel iteself. This is not a new, slap-dash construction chain motel, but a stately travel oasis for 95 years, exuding its history with grace. Designed in the 1920s by El Paso architect Henry Trost, Prescott townspeople bought shares in the project at $1 each, making the location a gathering spot for the community as well as for visitors even before it was completed in 1927.

Today, the building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. A member of the Historic Hotels of America, the hotel was a  2022 finalist in The Historic Hotels of America Awards of Excellence, a standout among over 300 entries for the award.  The hotel was a finalist for Best Small Historic Inn/Hotel (Under 75 Guestrooms) as well as for best historic restaurant, hotelier of the year and ambassador of the year. The accolades are deserved.

The Apache name Hassayampa translates more or less as “the river loses itself,” just as the Hassayampa River north of Prescott does, sinking below the ground on its journey toward the sea. But the river’s namesake hotel is in no danger of being lost. With excellent service from the cheerful staff taking turns as elevator operators to the waitstaff at the hotel’s stained-glass-adorned Peacock Room restaurant, the Hassayampa seems destined to appeal to generations of travelers.

Just as it once drew luminaries such as Georgia O’Keefe and Will Rogers, it certainly drew us. The rooms are charming and offer modern comforts – a terrific mattress, flat screen TV, and good Internet, too. Cozy and well appointed, offering features such as a soft carpet with Native American patterning, burnished wood furnishings, deep maroon duvet and arm chairs, the rooms are also quiet – we did not hear our neighbors once.

 

The architecture throughout the hotel is a delight, ranging from Spanish Colonial Revival to Italianate features. Ceilings are handpainted; glass is etched, mosaics line tables, embossed copper panels are polished to a sheen. The courtyard offers outdoor dining in warm weather, and there is live music on weekends.

We traveled in February, and although there was a chill in the air outside, the hotel has a way of making one feel warm and cossetted. A romance package for Valentine’s Day includes breakfast along with touches like chocolate covered strawberries and champagne or sparkling cider add to the ambiance, making February a particularly great time to visit. Sunny days and crisp nights are the typical weather forecast – and were what we experienced as well, with a few patches of snow still frosting the ground.

We loved walking from the hotel into the heart of Prescott’s historic downtown, exploring Courthouse Square and stopping in for a drink at The Palace Bar, which like the Hassayampa itself, is packed full of history. Wyatt Earp and his brothers as well as Doc Holliday once imbibed there. The Sharlot Hall Museum offered interesting insight into the area’s history; Watson Lake provided easy, attractive hiking on trails that weave among large granite boulders.

There are some excellent lunch spots in Prescott, such as The  Local, where we enjoyed a terrific Beyond burger, and the restaurant’s signature grilled cheese, crafted from Havarti and pimento cheeses.

It’s a sandwich worth stopping for. The Greek salad with Israeli couscous and feta is another standout. But the best part: fresh limeade. The Local is a convivial spot with tables inside and out, and fast, friendly service.

But don’t  miss dinner at the Hassyampa. The art deco-style setting is perfect, the understated elegance and warmth that permeate the hotel itself are just as prevalent here, drawing visitors and locals alike with a changing array of beautifully plated entrees. Dishes such as scallops, rainbow trout and a roasted chili poblano – filled with leaks, corn, spaghetti and squash, vie for attention with classically prepared steaks. The restaurant also serves a heady brunch with delightfully decadent treats such as lemon souffle pancakes.  And, one Sunday a month, there’s an afternoon tea, which we need to return to experience.

Although there are many reasons to call the Hassayampa Inn a jewel – it’s history, the friendly staff, the beautifully preserved historic features – it’s all these facets that will make you want to visit this gem in a perfect setting – a thriving small town with plenty of history of its own nestled in the Bradshaw Mountains, the distinctive Thumb Butte, luring us out and up through the pines on its trails.

With a setting like that for a treasured historic hotel, why wait? We loved our February visit, and I highly recommend booking a stay during the  post-holiday season, or come in the spring for the Smoki Museum’s indigenous art festival,  attend a free June bluegrass festival, or enjoy the thrills of the world’s oldest rodeo in July.  Just save a room for us!

  • Genie Davis; photos – Genie Davis 

 

 

Prime Territory at MOAH Cedar

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Through January 22nd at MOAH Cedar in Lancaster, Dani Dodge holds forth with an installation that soars as widely and wildly as a desert sky. Prime, like many of the artist’s exhibitions, is immersive. So much so here, in fact, that viewers might almost catch a whiff of desert sage andthe fragrance of a Joshua Tree in bloom.

The exhibition, which fills all three galleries at Cedar, is comprised of three parts.  The main room is layered with translucent panels, on which Dodge has created gold leaf and delicately painted acrylic work depicting an ephermeral, mirage-like shimmer of desert images. The experience is a walk-through installation, with viewers able to walk behind and within the panels. Adding to the experiential nature is a soundtrack of cello music the artist created herself and recorded sounds of desert animals at dawn.

Along with the gauzy painted panels, a sculptural form created from a twisted mattress spring hangs in the center of the gallery, with the panels waverying around it. It stands as a kind of monument to how human inhabitants intrude on the quiet grace of the desert, and how the desert itself may banish that habitation in its own good time. 

The artist has provided pencils and slips of paper on which to write what types of places bring them peace – as the desert brings piece to Dodge. Safety pins are also provided so that viewers can pin what they’ve written, adding them to their thoughts to the exhibition itself.

 

Across the hall,  Dodge displays images from three separate bodies of work, as seen above. These include a quite wonderful video installation of desert animals captured during her 2019 artist-in-residence stay at the Prime Desert Woodland Preserve in Lancaster. Here we see animals from jackrabbits to coyotes and desert mice as they come and go during the night.  Also on display is a wonderful, glowing collection of painted gold leaf and photography that was part of an earlier exhibition held at Black Rock Gallery in Joshua Tree.

The artist’s love for the shape, form, and fragility of the Joshua Tree is resurrecting. Dodge is intent on helping to preserve the land, creating a sense of hope that with her passion directed at preserving them, these wonderful living flora can survive man’s worst intentions. There is also a second recovered metal mattress spring displayed in this gallery, its form twisted by nature and time after being discarded in the desert.  

If you love the desert, love immersive finely wrought art, or simply want to experience desert wonder without trudging through the sand, Dodge’s exhibition is a must-see. The fine spiritual sense of her work here is both uplifting and poignant, speaking to the ruthlessness of human contact on the desert, the fragility of the desert itself, and the ways in which we can help to preserve it, if we love those aqua skies and golden sands, those brown hills and small brown creatures that inhabit them, those glorious, uplifted arms of the Joshua, and the land’s spectacular, raw sunrises and sunsets.

Above, Dodge with MOAH’s Robert Benitez (left), and Jason Jenn (right).

Like the artist does herself, we can come visit the desert every  January and pay tribute to it, and this year, we can also head to the Cedar galleries to see how Dodge has done so. The exhibition runs through January 22nd.

It also includes a series of lovely desert images created by children participating in activation classes the artist provided at the Preserve throughout her residency.

MOAH: CEDAR Center for the Arts

44857 Cedar Avenue, Lancaster, CA 93534

Open Tuesday and  Wednesday  |   11 AM  – 6 PM

Open Thursday – Sunday   |    11 AM  –  8  PM

  • Genie Davis; photos, Genie Davis