Raha Raissnia

A film of light and shadows, transfigured entries and alters. The souls who shaped the structures I captured here are lost.

Now only the wind, the sun and the moon have received them gracefully.

I began the process of making “Aviary" by superimposing and re-photographing various footage I shot directly from the

surfaces of some of my paintings with imagery sourced from a box of 35mm slides labeled “Sultanate Architecture” that

were found in the visual resource archive discarded by Brooklyn College, which depict the ruins of a 14th– century

mosque in India. By cropping, splicing, painting, layering and distorting them, this film opens up and complicated the

possible denotations of the original photographs. The several translations that took place between film and video in

making this film resulted in various subtle tones and textures that are important to me.

Driven by a desire to break away from the conventional cinematic screen, “Aviary" is comprised of a 3 minute looped

16mm film, projected through a double screen box to create an installation that both articulates the light as it moves

through space and diffuses it through layers of screen and shadow. This box-like object intercepts the film projector’s

light beam and creates a 3D like optical illusion that is at once still and kinetic. The interplay of motion and stillness

holds a central role in this work. Additionally there is an active spatial play at work that is diaphanous and charged with

notions that relate to human history and existence. Through the fusion of architectural and organic forms and textures I

have alluded to thoughts, feelings and ways of mankind which can only and always carry its ancient roots and move into

the future.