Delusory Comforts

Virtual artist talk: Thurs. June 3 at 5 pm

Exhibition (Gallery 2): June 4 to 26, 2021

With the drawings and ceramic pieces in this exhibition Saba Heravi investigates the self in relation to the complexities of womanhood and an impossible definition of femininity. Inspired by Persian miniatures and folktales, she creates a universe of fantastical stories inhabited by women. Her characters are frequently born of her personal experience and, like the artist, are in the midst of self-investigation. There is a silence in their worlds as they live through emotional allegories that have no conclusion. These women engage blithely, as if nothing unusual is happening, in dark, playful, strange acts, while they face everyday challenges also shared by the artist. Through these women, Saba speaks about her own prodigious, unconscious memory.

Objects are an important part of our memory, history, and identity; as she states, ‘they have their own unique story and create their own character’ and they lead the narrative. Clay holds within its molecules the memory of what has been done with it, just as we keep our memories within us. Through her artistic process, Saba rebuilds her own narrative and personal identity.

Through her art practice, which encompasses drawing, ceramics, and printmaking, Saba Heravi explores the idea of home, and how memory and identity are transformed through time and geography. Saba was born in Iran in 1989 and moved to Canada in 2012. She graduated with a BFA in Studio Arts from Concordia University in 2019 and also holds a M.Eng in Building Engineering.  Her work has been exhibited in group exhibitions in Montreal since 2016, and she has completed artist residencies in Montreal and will start a ceramic research residency at Maison des métiers d’art de Québec in 2022. Saba Heravi gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts for a Research and Creation grant to develop this exhibition.

Visit For more information: sabaheravi.com