Anahita Norouzi
in Carleton-sur-mer

The work Palimpsest of Unseen Pasts (2022) consists of six prints, the size of which creates an anthropomorphic connection to the viewer’s body. Using images of pressed Persian iris specimens held at Western herbariums, Anahita Norouzi digitally intervened to remove all superimposed information, such as labels with taxonomic classifications, leaving only the anatomical contours of the plant. To further distance the iris from external assessments and motives, she created anthotypes of the modified images, with a natural dye made from saffron – a precious spice derived from a plant synonymous with Iran, and from the same Iridaceae family. By embroidering color swatches into each sheet, she also reintroduced the original polychromatic palette of the different species. But generating an uncontaminated form of the plant’s image in order to reclaim its representations was not the only act of resistance: on top of the ghostly yellow prints Norouzi replaced scientific projections with archival findings, adding a translucent fabric layer that carries evidence of Western interventions in each province where these species originated – a meddling that has forever changed the course of history in Iran, and many other countries.