Raheleh Mohammad: Quietly Resilient

When Raheleh Mohammad got word that power was out at Cool Water Dry Goods in Tremont just hours before the scheduled opening of her show during the March Walkabout, it would have been easy enough to re-schedule. The staff at the shop was supportive. But Raheleh had spoken with her mother earlier in the day: her mother had called to ask specifically if the show was on, and Raheleh had told her yes. Her mom had called from Iran, which of course is in turmoil under US and Israeli attacks. Communication is not always possible.  Raheleh waits daily for those calls, just to be sure her family is OK. She had told her mom the show was on. So by candle and lantern light, the doors opened on time for the aptly-titled The Practice of Quiet Resilience—a collection of a couple dozen small, graceful mixed media pieces Raheleh made with paper, leaves, and thread.

The power outage, the candle light, and the theme of the exhibition all intersected to make for one of those rare, memorably humane moments. Visitors couldn’t help but appreciate being there, at that time, with those particular people and pieces. That experience couldn’t be replicated and won’t happen again.

Raheleh’s process is a meditative one, and separate for her usual medium, which is photography. For this body of work she has embroidered leaves and paper precisely, one stitch at a time. These are not as quick as a shutter: they take time. It’s done in such a way that the threads extend the lines of the foliage, working with them. The lines of stitching imply working with nature: they extend the forms, the growth lines, the curls, the energy of the leaves: they are in harmony.

Some of the leaves are broken or otherwise damaged. Her stitching does not repair those breaks in the way that the Japanese art of Kintsugi does with gold filling cracks in ceramic, but in the artist’s words “acknowledges it with a gesture of care.”

Raheleh says the works can be understood “through the lens of an old Iranian gesture called Dakhil Bastan” – the act of tying a thread or cloth to a sacred place, often a shrine or tree, while making a wish. It’s like physical evidence of a prayer. These, because of the way they take time and focus, are more like meditation.

Each work is framed between panes of glass so that the back is visible, intentionally revealing knots and tangles that are part of the process. None of that is visible from the front, but it’s still there for those who look. The process is apparent in the subtly graceful results. To see them under limited, improvised light drew people closer together, and brought its own energy to the room.  Despite war, power outages and all the turmoil of the world, we go on. And we do so, making beautiful things.

The Practice of Quiet Resilience is on view until April 2.

Raheleh Mohammad: The Practice of Quiet Resilience
March 13 – April 2
Cool Water Dry Goods
2413 Professor Ave
Cleveland, Ohio