Art by Rochelle Shahfazli
Based on Gadigal Land / Sydney, Australia.
The Shah Closet is my artistic way of capturing memories and celebrating my Iranian and Indonesian heritage. This project is my way of navigating the complexities of existing as a BIPOC woman in Australia and trying to find meaningful ways to connect to my cultures.
0.210m x 0.148m, Watercolour Paper
‘Chai & Nabat’ spotlights the unspoken ways that Iranian people connect with each other. Chai (tea) in some ways can enforce the formalities of tarof, which is an expected politeness and civility between different social rankings in Iranian culture.
Breaking down the hypervigilant Iranian cultural norms, in Rochelle’s world chai is a vehicle for conversation, emotional vulnerability and companionship. Zooming in on intimate table settings, ‘Chai & Nabat’ unveils Rochelle’s world of affection between beloved friends, family and her partner, often initiated through sharing a cup of tea.
Chai & Nabat (2023)
0.297m x 0.420m, Watercolour Paper
‘A WhatsApp Breakfast’ explores how geopolitical turmoil exacerbates the collective grief of migrant families for loved ones abroad. The gouache painting, colourfully memorialises the loss of her late madar bozorg (grandmother) who lived in Iran. Having never met her grandmother, her passing became a loss of insights about her family, grieving the stories she never heard, the arguments she never had, the meals never cooked and the hugs never felt.
Rochelle’s Ameh (aunty) and Amoo (uncle) travelled to Iran to see her grandmother before she passed away. Whilst there, Rochelle received photographs of family breakfasts, lunches and dinners via WhatsApp. For Rochelle, each photo became a portal to experience life in Iran with her grandmother- to pick cherries and smell roses togehter, to eat noon barbari, walnuts and cheese, to see the world she lived in.
As each day brought more Gen-X styled photos, her Ameh and Amoo became custodians of the Shahfazli family ‘abroad’, immortalising the final moments with madar bozorg.
“…I just wanted one experience to be with her, that was my childhood dream, and I never got to realise that dream because of something we can’t control, which is the political state of Iran.”
A WhatsApp Breakfast (2024)
0.210m x 0.148m, Watercolour Paper
‘Mulberry Jam’ Whilst Iranian women have been showcased as fiercely feminist against theocratic, patriarchal regimes, their domestic lives are still subjected to patriarchal gender roles. Within these boundaries, Iranian women are still agile, steering aware from submission and are instead strategic, purposeful and considered in their demeanour.
‘Mulberry Jam’ observers a domestic setting of the women in Rochelle’s life. In the house, the women she observes continue to serve men, hastily cooking homemade meals before husbands come home, doing the errands and laundry with ease, appeasing to in-laws through tarof and always cleaning.
In 2019, Rochelle’s Iranian aunties visited her family home to commemorate the spring fruits by making mulberry jam together. This occasion was the first time Rochelle observed the Iranian women in her life gathering to make jam for everyone. They all gathered re-used 1kg yoghurt buckets to pick sweet mulberries from her mother’s tree. Laughter filled the valley as 20 women were stuck between branches, jumping to reach higher fruits and staining their cotton shirts.
From the garden to the kitchen, viewers are invited into a setting free from the male gaze, where they are asked to imagine middle-aged aunties hand-measuring sugar into large pots, bickering over the proportions of ingredients, gossiping about other family members and unloading their grievances.
‘Mulberry Jam’ is Rochelle’s way to honour the women in her life.
Mulberry Jam (2024)