BIBI MANAVI
Bibi Manavi is a Paris-based multi-disciplinary artist. Her practice focuses on accessing memory through microscopic observation and preservation of disappearing flora , by means of sculpture and photography.
The Formation Measure series consists of both sculptures and photographs. Manavi’s practice leads her to various sites where she collects plant samples to access the flora’s memory within specific environments. Her research extends from the highlands of the Alborz and Zagros mountain ranges, to European National reserves and the Amazon basin. Through these expeditions with biologists, she gatherers data which become the basis of her works.
Through a process of microscopic observation and archiving, she produces renderings of the flora’s cellular patterns. By analyzing the tree or plant’s structures through a microscope, she employs a method of encapsulating and reflecting their formation.
Annual rings and cellular compositions taken from specific tree samples are enlarged in varying scales,recreated in mirror then carved into wood. In other cases, Manavi approaches memory through the magnifying glass of dendrochronology (the scientific method of dating tree rings to the exact year they were formed) in this era of ecological mutation.
Manavi’s works seek to preserve the memory of trees, under the assumption that if one carves tree rings and delves into its memory, wrinkles, and history, then the possibilities of interpreting the imperceptible materialize. She views mirror as a lens in which the interior and exterior dissolve into a liminal space. The reflections in her works juxtapose the pastness of the imbued memory with the presentness of its viewing, revealing a festival of cellular connections.
Manavi graduated from Central Saint Martins, London in 2015. In 2016, her research on Persian ornamental techniques led her to undergo an apprenticeship training in the traditional craft of Aineh-Kari (mirror mosaics) in Shiraz. She has since participated in various residencies which include: the 100ECS (Etablissement Culturel Solidaire) residency in Paris, 2019; and the Bikini Residency in Lake Como, 2017. She will be attending the LabVerde residency program in the Brazilian Amazon in Summer 2021.
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SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
FRAC
'Mont Analogue'
Reims France 2020(2021)
Grosvenor House
‘Memory of almond trees’
London UK 2019
Le 100 ECS
‘Im-nature’
Paris France 2019
The Eclectic studio
‘Formation measure’
Paris France 2018
Bikini Art Residency
‘reflective Movement’
Como lake Italy 2017
Les Jardins D’Artois
‘Au haras d’Andromède'
Paris France 2016
Central Saint Martins
‘Escapist measures'
London UK 2015
Ateliers de Sèvres
‘In search of one'
Paris France 2012
Nikki Diana Marquardt
'ISP'
Paris France 2010
RESIDENCY
Labverde
Manaus Brazil 2020
(2022)
Le 100ecs - Établissement culturel solidaire
Paris France 2019
Etude de ‘Aineh- Kari’* mirror mosaic
Shiraz Iran 2018
Bikini Art Residency
http://www.bikiniartresidency.com
Como lake Italy 2017