Raha Rastifard's first solo exhibition at Berg Gallery presents a series of colorful works in 3D lens technology that challenge the viewer's gaze by creating displacements of the subject. Lenticular printing is a multi-step process commonly used to create an animated effect, a sense of three-dimensionality or to give depth to the image. For Rastifard, the method becomes a way of realizing the many layers that together make up her illusory pictorial worlds. As so often in Rastifard's practice, there is a kinship between the several thousand-year-old Persian traditions of abstract geometric patterns and the works in this exhibition.
Rastifard uses original works in the form of paintings, graphics and photographs to create her technologically advanced worlds of images, where these originals are intertwined into a whole. Like the traditional Persian geometric patterns, the motifs repeat, overlap and coincide with each other. Her work is characterized by precision and a deep interest in the various optical phenomena that characterize her abstract landscape. In this way, her focus is reminiscent of the scientist's; there is a fundamental interest in the many ways in which light is reflected, refracted and bent. At the same time, her process is equally emotional, philosophical and internal – introspection and a meditative approach serve as key words in the creative process.
Installation photos: Jean-Baptiste Béranger.
