September 12–October 10, 2020
Steve Turner is pleased to present The Dirt That Binds Me, a solo exhibition by Los Angeles-based Aryana Minai that features new abstract paintings that are composed of recycled paper and inspired by the patterns and textures of Islamic and vernacular architecture that she experienced during her childhood in Iran. Minai recalls many family excursions to historic architectural monuments throughout the country. Old palaces in Isfahan or Shiraz decorated with tiles, bricks, reliefs and wallpaper remain vivid in Minai’s memory and are a critical link to her past. She also acknowledges the importance of seeing craftspeople at work on her frequent walks between home and school in Tehran. Carpet weavers, illuminators of Persian miniatures, potters, calligraphers and artisans of Khatam-Kari (geometric inlay in bone and wood) were wonderful distractions to her and they inform her creative processes to this day. Minai favors materials that have a past life and can be recycled into something new. Many of her new works are made from recycled scraps of paper supplied by friends–paper plates and cups from social gatherings and protest meetings–as well as her own daily accumulation that she breaks down into pulp. Found bricks are then used as tools to emboss the dyed pulp as it dries and the final works are mounted to the screens that she used to make the pulp. The embossing is akin to the marks absorbed by buildings, the imprints of our existence. Aryana Minai (born 1994, Los Angeles) moved with her family to Tehran when she was five months old. The family returned to Southern California when Minai was fifteen and she subsequently earned a BFA from Art Center College of Design, Pasadena (2016) and an MFA from Yale (2020). Her work has been included in group exhibitions at Perrotin, New York; Arvia, Los Angeles and Ed Varie, New York. This is her first exhibition at Steve Turner. Aryana Minai creates abstract paintings that are composed of recycled paper and are inspired by the patterns and textures of Islamic and vernacular architecture that she experienced during her childhood in Iran. She uses scraps of paper supplied by friends–paper plates and cups from social gatherings and protest meetings–as well as her own daily accumulation to create pulp. Found bricks are then used as tools to emboss the dyed pulp as it dries and the final works are mounted to the screens that she used to make the pulp. The embossing is akin to the marks absorbed by buildings, the imprints of our existence. Born 1994, Los Angeles Education 2016 Solo Exhibitions 2016 2015 Group Exhibitions 2018 2017 2016 Grants, Residencies and Awards 2013 2012
Lives and works in Los Angeles
2020
MFA, Yale School of Art, New Haven
BFA, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, California
2020
The Dirt That Binds Me, Steve Turner, Los Angeles
Holding onto the Echo of Decay, Green Gallery, Yale School of Art
Bridges, Art Center Gallery, Pasadena
KUFIC, Art Center Gallery
Turkish Coffee, Art Center College of Design
2020
Yale MFA 2020, Perrotin Gallery, New York
#Cracks, Quarantine Gallery, Los Angeles
Eight Pointed Star, Close Distance, Los Angeles
Run What You Brung, Green Gallery, Yale School of Art
Garden Show #3, Arvia LA, Los Angeles, CA
The Light Within the Bulb, Ed. Varie, New York
Fun on the Floor, Soft Core LA, Los Angeles
Boat Mover, Bombay Beach Biennale, California
Silent Benefit Auction, Now SpacexCentral Perk Gallery, Los Angeles
Annual Fundraiser, TSA LA, Los Angeles
Spring Residents, The Mine Artspace Resident Artists, Los Angeles
EMER/9E, Gallery 38, Los Angeles
LEVELED, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena
2020
The Print Shop LA, Los Angeles (residency)
Dean’s Critical Research Grant, Yale School of Art
Provost’s List, Art Center College of Design (2013–2016)
Donor Scholarship, Art Center College of Design (2012–2016)
