Phantom Matter brings together the sculpture series Cornered Fragmented Body and the VR video The Binding to explore the fragmented body as a site of memory, rupture, and survival. Across sculptural and virtual spaces, the exhibition reflects on how violence -particularly that which is rooted in power relations- echoes through generations, shaping both individual and collective experience. Detached limbs become autonomous forms, no longer requiring a whole to assert their weight, agency, or vulnerability. Subtly installed on cement-covered bases that echo urban surfaces, the sculptures nearly dissolve into their environment, suggesting silent persistence and hinting at their potential placement in public space. In The Binding, this tension is amplified through a voiceover recounting stories drawn from mythology, religion, and historical events in which fathers killed their sons in acts driven by power, ideology, fear, or belief. Navigating the space between presence and absence, Phantom Matter traces the silent residues of trauma and resistance that persist across bodies and time.
Zahara Zavareh