In All Experience is an Arch, Fallah continues an exploration of portraiture using material sourced from an estate sale—trophies, diaries, photos, clothes, and various trinkets— amassed by members of a family over decades. Fallah’s paintings are not likenesses (faces are covered) but, rather, carefully researched and imagined representations of individuals and their personal narratives based on the objects they saved and as reconstructed by the artist.
All Experience is an Arch combines Fallah’s portraits and selected objects in the gallery space. The gallery walls are painted a version of the grey and dark charcoal polka dot fabric found throughout the family home. On several small shelves yellow enamel-dipped objects display as artifacts. As these details come together, the individual family members blur, shared history replaces personal narratives, and a more complex story emerges.
Vintage Display, 2016, acrylic, colored pencil, and collage on paper mounted to canvas, 30”x30”
Day Of Recollection, 2016, acrylic and colored pencil on panel, 24” in diameter
Peering Through, 2016, acrylic and colored pencil on panel, 26”x36”
Milk Maid, 2016, acrylic and colored pencil on panel, 24” in diameter
Brace, 2016, acrylic and colored pencil on paper mounted to canvas, 8”x12”
Meditate, 2016, acrylic and colored pencil on paper mounted to canvas, 11”x14”
Reflect, 2016, acrylic and colored pencil on paper mounted to canvas, 9”x12