SELF PORTRAITS & PORTRAIT

The self-portrait is an act of self-exploration—an opportunity to look beyond the image reflected in the mirror and begin to search within the self. More than an attempt to capture one’s physical likeness, self-portraiture can become a deeply personal investigation, revealing feelings of anguish and pain, encouraging self-reflection, recalling the past, and providing a means of releasing emotion.

Long serving as objects of reflection for those fascinated by beauty and thought, mirrors became an important tool for artists from the late 14th century onwards, helping to popularise self-portraiture and offering a means of exploring the inner psyche. The mirror became not simply a surface on which the artist could see themselves, but a space through which identity, memory, and emotion could be examined.

Self Portraits and Portrait brings together the work of four women artists based in Tehran—Soodeh Bagheri, Ahoo…