NADA New York 2023

Deeply saturated, painted gouache backgrounds offset the gleaming hard-edged geometries Abdolreza Aminlari meticulously embroiders by hand in his series of thread drawings. Using vintage Japanese 18- and 24-karat gold-wrapped thread, Aminlari stitches invented forms based on his recollections of animals, patterns, and other motifs in the Persian rugs of his childhood. In emphasizing the unfixed and subjective aspects of personal memory, Aminilari’s “in-between shapes” suggest multiple interpretations outside of a singular culture or context. At once specific and open-ended, Aminlari’s works speak to a larger diasporic experience and the nature of nostalgia itself.