Afruz Amighi Showcases Steelwork and Sketches at London’s Sophia Contemporary Gallery
Born in Iran, Afruz Amighi originally set out to study architecture. “The aesthetics of Persian design are assimilated into my sensibility,” Amighi says. “From early on, I was fascinated by how, before electricity, arches, domes, and stained-glass windows were built to manipulate light.” Today, light is integral to her sculptures, which London’s Sophia Contemporary Gallery is showing in “Echo’s Chamber,” beginning November 23. They derive from female archetypes—namely the Greek goddess Echo in addition to African wooden sculptures of the 19th and 20th centuries—and will be accompanied by her corresponding drawings.
Beyond the drawing stage, each sculpture begins as a steel panel. It’s then cut into strips that are welded together and hammered into curves, after which fiberglass mesh is applied. Once the pieces wall-mounted, she adds fine black jewelry chain and the final element, illumination. “The resulting shadows are always a surprise,” she says. “I don’t really plan them.”
> See more from the October 2017 issue of Interior Design
