Folding Gardens, A Stained Memory, 2017-2019

The installation was exhibited four times as part of a traveling exhibition in the San Francisco Bay Area between 2017 and 2019.

The installation was on view at The San Diego Museum of Art, Sep 2024-Jan 2025, as part of Wonders of Creation, PST ART: Art & Science Collide, represented by

Getty and curated by Dr. Ladan Akbarnia.

Folding Gardens, A Stained Memory is an immersive installation that integrates elements of nature, history, and sensory experience. The installation features fourteen silk organza strips, thirteen of them designed with floral patterns derived from the 12th-century Herbal of al-Ghafiqi botanical manuscript.

For each fabric strip, I used original images from the facsimile of the Herbal as references and created digital drawings of the plants and arranged them into tangled plant compositions. These textile prints are designed as foldable vertical gardens, symbolizing the ability to carry healing nature wherever one goes.

Accompanied by the sound of a water fountain, aromatic plant extracts on shelves, and a Medicinal Herbal Volvelle, highlighting the healing properties of eight medicinal plants, visitors are encouraged to actively interact with the piece. They can smell aromatic plant extracts from jars or engage with the volvelle to learn about the plant’s medicinal uses. By walking through the installation, participants experience the detailed botanical drawings up close, while listening to the sound of the water fountain.

On a personal level, this installation evokes one of the earliest memories of my childhood. My family has deep roots in the southern city of Shiraz, Iran, known for its tradition of using herbal medicine since medieval times. Spending time in both traditional drugstores and the gardens of Shiraz with my grandmother, I was deeply influenced by the deep belief in the healing powers of herbal medicine and the importance of staying connected to the natural world. The visual memories of rows of herbal extract bottles on shelves at the Shiraz bazaar are still vivid to me.

The 1979 Revolution disrupted my once-idyllic childhood, leading to frequent school closures and unrest. During one chaotic evacuation, I was seriously injured—my blood staining the classroom floor, a moment etched into my memory.

In 2017, during my Kala Art Institute Fellowship residency, I printed the black-and-white floral patterns. Two years later, I added fabric strips of red tulips—symbols of martyrdom in Iran—and bloodstains to mark my childhood experience. Folding Gardens, A Stained Memory underscores the significance of visual elements in the early science of botany and creates a multisensory connection to nature through the senses of sight, smell, touch, and hearing. It also reveals how a pleasant childhood in Iran became interrupted and “stained” by the Revolution of 1979.

Installation media and dimensions:

Folding Gardens, A Stained Memory
Digital prints on silk organza, rods, and silk threads, and the sound of a water fountain, each fabric 10’x 24”. Installation: 7.5 x 8 x 10 feet

Medicinal Herbal Volvelle
Silkscreen on metal, wood, and printed text, 24”x 24”
Volvelles are the first paper analog computers from the medieval period, which were made by hand and installed inside scientific manuscripts to offer calculations and to make the manuscripts interactive.

Aroma
6 Bottles, shelves and plant extracts. Shelves each 5 x 20 inches