Farsh132006, 2006

Farsh132006, 2006

Shirana Shahbazi
Iran, b.1974, active Switzerland
Hand-knotted carpet
© Shirana Shahbazi

Shirana Shahbazi makes photographs in traditionally European styles and genres—including still life, landscape, and, in this case, portraiture—questioning hierarchies and sometimes translating her images into different mediums. In Farsh132006, a photograph of a young woman’s head, reminiscent of Johannes Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring (c. 1665), has been made into a hand-knotted carpet by artisans in Shahbazi’s native Iran. These multiple incarnations encourage us to consider the various ways signs can be rearranged and recycled today.