Local look: chico
MUSINGS ON THE CHICO ART SCENE
Pakbaz creates a dreamy environment of acid-tinged pastels in her newest exhibition to date, Mariam Pakbaz: Something Not Yet Made. Washes of color layered with expertly illustrated figures and animals create an unsettled nostalgia. Brilliant mustards on warm wood grain, and majestic deer recall masculine 70s advertisements whereas languid ballet dancers in cool, distressed blues resting on green foliage echo Art Nouveau qualities.
Wistfulness is peaked by the carefully selected omissions. An obscured face, a stroboscopic pencil outline of a figure, and the overall gauzy appearance visually depict the ache of memories. Haunting, sweet, harsh, and lovely. Looking at her work takes me to memories of reading hand-me-down children’s books with gold binding, how one decade blends into the next before truly becoming distinct, slowly dissolving faces of people I have not seen for a long time. Aptly titled, Something Not Yet Made feels like an invitation to see where her mind travels next.
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AuthorSara Smallhouse is tenure-track faculty in Art History at Butte College, teaches every once in a while at CSU, Chico, and is on the Board of Directors of monca (Museum of Northern California Art). She likes to walk around and look at things with her family, friends, or solo. Archives
February 2022
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