Shirin Damerji

The photo series “Astrid on wobbly legs” tells the story of a life in objects. For the photographic works, the artist stacks a wide variety of objects from her mother’s estate to create fragile material assemblages. Cup after cup, vase after decorative figurine, graceful towers grow upwards, appearing as if any gust of wind or excessive shock could cause them to lose their balance and collapse. For Shirin Damerji, the process of making the works is an emotional balancing act between the life-affirming, exhilarating tension of the risky construction method and the possible loss of the fragile heirlooms. The objects – a potpourri of hand-painted cups, porcelain figurines, English tea silver and decorative vases collected over decades in antique stores – are more than just silent witnesses to an eventful life. Rather, they tell of the nature of their former owner: of her sense of aesthetics, of her almost obsessive passion for collecting, of her desire for a bourgeois life. The artist then tells us more about her mother’s character through the way the works are produced. The wobbly process of stacking reflects her willingness to take risks, her courage, perhaps even a little of her recklessness. And so the tall columns can be read like a portrait of Astrid – one in absentia.

Shirin Damerji, Astrid auf wackligen Beinen, 2018 ,Fine Art Print. 149×169 cm, Bildrechte: die Künstlerin