Psychological Isthmus

My artistic practice is deeply rooted in personal experience, exploring the psychological and emotional complexities of migration. In Psychological Isthmus, I use materials that embody displacement, censorship, and identity—elements that have shaped my own journey. A broken fence, a dried tree root, a mirror, and handwritten text become symbols of the migrant’s fragmented existence. The censored poetry of Forough Farrokhzad reflects the struggle for self-expression and the fragility of suppressed voices. The broken fence represents both the longing for freedom and the barriers encountered in that pursuit. The hanging, dried tree root speaks to the forced uprooting of exile, while the mirror captures the duality of life suspended between two places—a space of reflection, loss, and reinvention.

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The theoretical foundation of this work is drawn from Julia Kristeva’s Black Sun: Depression and Melancholia and Trinh T. Minh-ha’s Elsewhere, Within Here. Kristeva’s exploration of depression as self-censorship, tied to the loss of cherished "Things," resonates with the erasure of one’s voice in displacement. Trinh’s concept of "in-betweenness" speaks to the migrant’s fluid yet fractured identity, constantly navigating the tensions between native and adopted cultures.

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Through Psychological Isthmus, I seek to visualize the post-migration identity crisis—the paradox of belonging and alienation, permanence, and impermanence. This work creates a dialogue between theory and artistic expression, capturing the psychological weight of living in the liminal space between homeland and home.

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