RMIT Exhibition

My master’s research project explores the notions of life and loss arising from investigation of the deep geological history of the Lut Desert in Kerman, Iran. Through studio exploration and development of creative techniques, I responded to the forms and patterns derived from the erosion, decay and demise of a vast lake that covered the region in the ancient past. I overlayed the region’s current arid landscape with its prehistoric state as a marine environment, presenting the two phases as equally significant. Driven by the theoretical and practical investigations, my studio research incorporated the cartographic record of the Lut landscape, the fossil records of Kerman and ecological theory.

During the course of this research study in Australia, I have become increasingly aware that my admiration and awe for life and nature can be traced to the desert environment of my origin. As a child, I used to accompany my geologist father when he was on assignment investigating underground aquifers in the nearby villages. Together, we searched for colourful sands, stone segments and fossil reminders of the desert’s wet, prehistoric past. My father’s enthusiasm for, and knowledge of, the formation of rocks and plateaus sparked my re-imagining of this arid area as a vast underwater environment, alive with marine organisms. As for the impact of our little expeditions, I became intensely influenced by my father’s interests in the environment and especially in water. Inspired by his informative narratives and further theoretical research, I started a journey into the deep geological history of Kerman to understand the stages this area went through prior to ending up a desert. Throughout this research project, I explored how I might use water as a motif while simultaneously referencing the desert. I reconcile this seeming contradiction by drawing upon the origins of life in the ocean, specifically Kerman’s prehistoric marine environment that vanished millennia ago but nevertheless left traces in the region’s present desert landscape. As such, my work embodies the radical consequences of a changing climate over deep time.