A project in cooperation with hinterland, Vienna / Austria

In his works Vooria Aria deals with his personal history and identity. In his native city Sanandaj / Iran traditional graves are usually arranged with black slate. Slate is a fine grained stone, composed of volcanic ash also found in the surrounding of Sanandaj. Slate is composed of various very thin layers, easy to be broken, easy to perish. He uses these characteristics to deal with migration and social issues in our society regarding identity. Hence he uses slate as the main source for his current art works: slate as object and also trace.

“The stone that I am working with is called slate. It can be found usually on traditional graves in my native city Sanandaj. The thing that always fascinates me the most, is the way the stones are traditionally arranged and the composition that influences the entire appearance of the grave and its design. I am working with material that has occupied my mind since I was a child and I identify myself with. I try to process the influence this material and physical appearance has had on my perception. Slate fractures easily, I associate the multitude of its shape with our identities in transit. When the slate is within the mountain it stays whole, when it is moved it is frag¬mented. The nature of the stone is unstable so I preserve its original form by etching it and then let the stone fracture in an unpredictable way.” Vooria Aria