Somnambulism
Artist Name
Elham Mahmoudi Farahani
Artist Statement
As a visual artist with an architectural background, my practice operates at the intersection of form, structured space, and human emotion. Informed by spatial principles, I treat the camera frame as a conceptual stage where internal narratives and psychological landscapes take visual shape. Drawing from years of theater photography, my work utilizes staged compositions and layered photomontage to explore themes of identity, detachment, and the hidden mechanisms of the subconscious mind. Rather than documenting objective reality, I aim to create quiet, evocative spaces that invite viewers into a deeper dialogue with their own inner worlds.
Exhibition Statement
The Somnambulism collection investigates the fragile threshold between waking consciousness and the nocturnal subconscious. Delving into the enigmatic nature of sleep, this series explores how fragmented memories, latent desires, and surreal mental landscapes manifest when the analytical mind retreats. Through layered photomontage and staged imagery, figures and environments appear suspended in time—veiled, distorted, or dissolving into fluid surroundings. The work captures the disorienting logic of a sleepwalker’s realm, translating the intangible quality of dreams into tangible visual forms. Somnambulism serves as an open invitation to wander through the untapped reservoirs of human imagination and reflect on the blurry boundaries between reverie and reality.
