Aida Laleian
Born 1955, Bucharest, Romania, lives and works in Williamstown, MA
Our Lizard Devised Those Scarlet Lamps, 1998, toned photograph printed on porcelain, Museum Purchase, 1999.24
Aida Laleian aims to create mythic and allegorical images by combining both animal and human forms in her photographs. The result, a hybrid creature, forces viewers to question their understanding of the subject and medium. Laleian prints her photographs on handmade ceramic tiles coated with light-sensitive silver emulsion and then hand-paints them in oil, combining photomechanical and traditional hand-craft techniques. In Our Lizard Devised Those Scarlet Lamps, Laleian draws on the history of art by using references to classical friezes to construct her narrative. Through computer manipulation, she inserts images of herself into her work, challenging the viewer to question the veracity of the photographic image. Laleian writes, “My photographs deal with sensations of desire and disgust, and of their commingling in a single moment. I am still developing an ongoing personal dialogue in the work, exploring my sense of my own ‘possible selves.’”
