Bodies of Water — assalgheysari.com

Bodies of Water — 2017

In times of mass turmoil and crisis, engaging in practices that raise our collective consciousness and help us unify our physical, emotional, and spiritual body, is a form of social resistance to the established order of the world. I believe that ceremonial acts of washing and bathing are instances of such practices to achieve this unification.

Water is venerated across many ancient and contemporary cultures as a gateway towards the divine other. In my participatory performances, I make use of it as a connective medium between myself and visitors, and record the traces of my encounters through remnants left behind that I have gleaned here as portraitures.

If portraiture is in part intended to preserve memories of oneself and others, it is not the static and manufactured persona that I want to record. Rather, it’s those moments of encounter in time and space, where we are intimate, vulnerable, and fluid with ourselves and each other that I strive to archive.

In December 2016, I converted my studio at the California College of the Arts into a pop-up Hammam called H-OM, where I facilitate bathing rituals for women.

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Group Portrait

Acrylic on canvas, and used towels

Remnants from bathing rituals at H-OM (Hammam)

CCA Campus, San Francisco, 2017 —

(Left to Light)

In remembrance of:

1. Hiti Joon (02.12.17 — 3:09 pm to 4:43 pm)

2. Klaudeen Shemirani (03.04.17 — 5:16 pm to 7:01pm)

3. Shanna Pouyamehr (03.04.17 — 1:08 pm to 2:18 pm)

4. Nathalie Kardjian (03.17.17 — 1:07 pm to 2:16 pm)

5. Carmen Armenteros Puchades (03.17.17 — 3:10 pm to 4:23pm)