WATER, a personal video piece from 1995, captures Alipour as an infant, just days old, being bathed by her father while her mother films. This intimate snapshot explores care and tenderness, resonating with themes of familial bonds and the passage of time. The simplicity of the scene—an infant, water, loving hands—speaks to the essence of nurturing and primal connections, reminiscent of the personal and evocative filmmaking of Stan Brakhage who was known for his experimental films that focused on personal and evocative imagery, often using techniques that highlighted the tactile and emotional qualities of film. APPLE, a lamp made from Lavashak isn't just a lamp; it’s a sensory time machine. The gummy bear-like texture and fruity scent evoke childhood nostalgia, both sweet and sour. When illuminated, the Lavashak panels glow like stained glass, casting hues of amber and gold, transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary. Each piece of Lavashak serves as a diary entry, some vibrant, others faded. The apple motif nods to everything from the biblical apple of discord to the modern tech icon, blending tradition with contemporary symbolism. In the MEMORY series, Alipour addresses the underrepresentation of people with strong accents in media, using the Schwartz Interview Technique to elicit authentic memories. This approach celebrates linguistic diversity and challenges biases, turning interviews into intimate portraits. The use of impressionist music and editing transforms these conversations into personal histories, making the familiar strange and the strange familiar. It’s a reminder that every accent carries a background of experiences and memories, pushing viewers to reconsider their own perceptions. In HUNGER, Alipour constructs a bulletproof vest from rice packaging, juxtaposing the familiar with the protective. This piece, made from everyday materials, explores themes of safety and survival. The repurposed rice bags symbolize resilience and resourcefulness, turning mundane objects into a metaphor for the human condition, a commentary on finding security and sustenance in unexpected places. Whether through a glowing lamp of fruit leather or a vest made from rice bags, her work becomes a vessel for memories and emotions, resonating in a way that defies simple categorization. It’s in these moments of transformation that we find the essence of belonging, a glimpse of home amid the chaos of modern life. Alipour’s art eschews the superficiality of objects, instead forging connections, telling stories, and invoking memories. Lara Finkenstädt's work—spanning videos, slideshows, publications, and installations—captures moments that evoke a deep yearning. Her fragmented yet interconnected diary reflects a longing for authenticity in everyday life. Women navigate cities and domestic spaces in her art. Her focus on the mundane transforms overlooked images into a non-linear narrative, reflecting the complex nature of personal history. Installations like her two-channel digital slideshow Bisou acts as visual diaries, telling stories devoid of real time and space. The combination of images is reminiscent of the playful layouts of early 20th-century French fashion magazines. The blend of kitsch, fashion, and autobiographical elements evokes nostalgia while grounding viewers in the present. The arrangement of images highlights how juxtaposition changes meaning, similar to the interplay of memories and emotions that shape our sense of home. Stones, often appearing in her slideshows, emphasise the tension between still objects and dynamic spaces. They also give an urban rhythm to her works. Finkenstädt's exploration of symbols and their shifting meanings includes swans facing each other as symbols of eternal love, contrasted with swans facing away, suggesting transient love. This interplay of two subjects is echoed in all her works in this exhibition. In particular Kitty Flanders, couples a and b utilises the interplay of coupled images. Even when the images are facing away from each other, their edges seem to move towards the other. Inspired by feminist scholars like Griselda Pollock and Lucy R. Lippard, who see collage as a subversive art form, Finkenstädt challenges traditional narratives with her layered compositions. Her ability to transform the everyday into a punctum echoes Roland Barthes' idea of certain images having a deeply personal impact. This transformation mirrors our search for meaning in daily life. Her collages invite viewers to project their own stories onto her visual canvases, making the familiar extraordinary and reflecting the complexity of modern life. To make her artworks, she draws from a vast archive of visual material collected over the years from obscure web blogs, books and films found online.

-Lucas Vanhevel