Are You Buying These With Loonies or Toonies?
In the exhibition at Red Head Gallery, Esfahani is particularly exploring stereotype as otherness and Bhabha’s notion of ambivalence, which manifests as a split between appearance of an original and its expression as different and repetitive. This body of work is inspired by artifacts from the Aga Khan Museum’s collection, collected objects and imagery during Esfahani’s artist residency in Mexico City, and collected Canadiana objects. Her work questions displacement, dissemination, and reinsertion of culture through the repetitive nature of stereotypical imagery and uses the language of stereotype in order to destabilize the subjectification and cultural identification that occurs through stereotypical discourse.
"Are You Buying These with Loonies or Toonies?" installation view
Back: "Portable Culture: Mallards & Reeds", acrylic and laser etching on collected wooden objects, approx. 70″ x 87″ x 3", 2021
Front: "The Canadians", collected ceramic ducks, mallards & loons, 2022-ongoing
"The Canadians", detail, collected ceramic ducks, mallards & loons, 2022-ongoing
Back: "Portable Culture: Mallards & Reeds", detail, acrylic and laser etching on collected wooden objects, approx. 70″ x 87″ x 3", 2021
Front: "The Canadians", detail, collected ceramic ducks, mallards & loons, 2022-ongoing
Back: "Portable Culture: Mallards & Reeds", detail, acrylic and laser etching on collected wooden objects, approx. 70″ x 87″ x 3", 2021
Front: "The Canadians", detail, collected ceramic ducks, mallards & loons, 2022-ongoing
Right: "There: Elephant-Bird", laser-cut aluminum, approx. 24 in x 34 in, 2025
Left: "Here: Canada Goose", laser-cut aluminum, approx. 24 in x 34 in, 2025
"Here: Canada Goose", laser-cut aluminum, approx. 24 in x 34 in, 2025
"There: Elephant-Bird", laser-cut aluminum, approx. 24 in x 34 in, 2025
"Bird Plates", hand cut Ikea posters, 11in x11 in, 2025
"Bird Plates", detail, hand cut Ikea posters, 11in x11 in, 2025
"Bird Plates", detail, hand cut Ikea posters, 11in x11 in, 2025
"Birds of Mexico", mixed media, 8.5x11 in, 2025
"Birds of Mexico", detail, mixed media, 8.5x11 in, 2025
"Birds of Mexico", detail, mixed media, 8.5x11 in, 2025
"Loonie", acrylic & laser-etching on collected wooden object, 6x15 in, 2025
"Ducks", acrylic & laser-etching on collected object, 8x16 in, 2024, photo:Toni Hafkenscheid
"Duck Lock", collected metal object, approx. 5in x 6in, 2025
In the exhibition at the Tom Thomson Art Gallery, Esfahani is responding to the question “where are you from?”, that many immigrants are often asked, by exploring Tom Thomson’s legacy as a national icon and other symbols traditionally associated with Canadian identity from a diasporic lens. Through various multimedia works that layer stereotypical Canadian references with Iranian cultural motifs, interventions with found objects, and multiple painted and 3D printed replicas of Thomson paintings and artefacts, Esfahani transforms the gallery into a physical third space that dissolves the boundaries between both Iranian and Canadian cultures. –curator: Shannon Bingeman
"The Canadians", collected ceramic ducks, mallards & loons, 2024-ongoing, photo: Becky Comber
"The Canadians", detail, collected ceramic ducks, mallards & loons, 2024-ongoing, photo: Becky Comber
"The Canadians", detail, collected ceramic ducks, mallards & loons, 2024-ongoing, photo: Becky Comber
"The Canadians", detail, collected ceramic ducks, mallards & loons, 2024-ongoing, photo: Becky Comber
Top: "Thomson copied 1-12", 7x 5 ¼ in, 3D printed PLA, 12 pieces, 2023
Bottom: "Palette revisited 1-8", 3D printed PLA, dimensions variable, 2023, photo: Becky Comber
"Palette revisited 1-8", detail, 3D printed PLA, dimensions variable, 2023, photo: Becky Comber
"Palette revisited 1-8", detail, 3D printed PLA, dimensions variable, 2023, photo: Becky Comber
"Palette revisited 1-8", detail, 3D printed PLA, dimensions variable, 2023, photo: Becky Comber
"Palette revisited 1-8", detail, 3D printed PLA, dimensions variable, 2023, photo: Becky Comber
Left: "Morning"; "Canoe Lake"; "Red Sumac", oil on board, original Tom Thomson paintings
Middle: "Morning Replica"; "Canoe Lake Replica"; "Red Sumac Replica", oil on board, 8.5x10.5 in, 2024, painted by Jessica Joyce
Right: "Plastic Morning"; "Plastic Canoe Lake"; "Plastic red Sumac", 10.5x 8¼ in, 3D printed PLA, 2023, photo: Becky Comber
"Morning Replica"; "Canoe Lake Replica"; "Red Sumac Replica", oil on board, 8.5x10.5 in, 2024, painted by Jessica Joyce, photo: Becky Comber
"Canoe Lake Replica", oil on board, 8.5x10.5 in, 2024, painted by Jessica Joyce, photo: Becky Comber
"Morning Replica", oil on board, 8.5x10.5 in, 2024, painted by Jessica Joyce, photo: Becky Comber
"Red Sumac Replica", oil on board, 8.5x10.5 in, 2024, painted by Jessica Joyce, photo: Becky Comber
"Plastic Morning"; "Plastic Canoe Lake"; "Plastic red Sumac", detail, 10.5x 8¼ in, 3D printed PLA, 2023, photo: Becky Comber
"Plastic Canoe Lake", 10.5x 8¼ in, 3D printed PLA, 2023, photo: Becky Comber
"Plastic red Sumac", 10.5x 8¼ in, 3D printed PLA, 2023, photo: Becky Comber
"Who Slipped the Slide in Your Carousel?", slide projection, 2023, photo: Becky Comber
"Altered Thompson", mixed media on paper, 11x14in, 2024, photo: Becky Comber
Left: "Moose", acrylic & laser-etching on collected object, 10x11 in, 2024
Right: "Ducks", acrylic & laser-etching on collected object, 8x16 in, 2024, photo: Becky Comber
"Here & There: William Morris Patterns", fabric on wood panel, 6in diameter each, 2022, photo: Becky Comber
"Here & There: William Morris Patterns", detail, fabric on wood panel, 6in diameter each, 2022, photo: Becky Comber
"Here & There: William Morris Patterns", detail, fabric on wood panel, 6in diameter each, 2022, photo: Becky Comber
"Do You Miss it?", wood, dimensions variable, 2023, photo: Becky Comber
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