Past to Betray | 9 Sep - 5 Oct 2023

Past to Betray is a multimedia installation exploring the development of individuals in the local family dynamic and the social context.

The piece consists of objects, photographs, and a construction based on the architectural plans of traditional west Georgian dwellings known as Oda houses. The structure is clad in works on paper made with oil and ash.

Western Georgian dwellings were built on the ground around a central fire pit, the heart of the open-plan dwelling. In the 19th century, new architectural elements evolved to create what is known today as Oda, which has a central fireplace with several fireboxes all connected to a single chimney. As the fireplace replaced the pit, the open-plan dwelling was divided up to create private, isolated spaces.

The ash-clad replica of the traditional Oda house embodies the process of breaking away from the past and being reborn. The exhibit questions the extent to which the culture we are born out of on a micro, familial, and macro societal level shapes the people we become. Is there a tabula rasa that we as individuals populate with our experiences? Are these experiences solely our own, or are they shared and influenced by our family and those around us? How much of who we become is our choice, and how much of it is conditioned by our circumstances?

The idea of an open-plan family dwelling broken up into separate personal spaces by changing the way we interact with fire is intertwined with the use of ash as a core material. The ash is a metaphor for transformation, alteration of the state of being, and loss of the past identity. Objects and still-life photographs set around the structure come from the artist's family and are portraits of the Oda house dwellers. By placing personal objects and representations of family members in the context of the Oda, the artist is embarking on an exercise to alter her family and societal narrative by distilling its manifestations through symbolic flames. Fire is the pillar that holds the household together yet simultaneously creates ash.