Page 37 - Dark Matter:Women Witnessing Issue #3 - December 2015

Dark Matter: Women Witnessing - December, 2015 Issue #3 - EXTINCTION / DEVOTION

DREAMS BEFORE EXTINCTION

Naeemeh Naeemaei

These paintings, inspired by Maeemaei’s concern for the endangered species of Iran,
were part of a series shown in an exhibition at the Henna Art Gallery in Tehran. The

entire series is collected in Dreams Before Extinction, a book edited by Paul Semonin in

collaboration with the artist and published by Perceval Press in 2013. Written
commentary by Naeemaei accompanies each of the paintings.

In the introduction to Dreams Before Extinction, Paul Semonin writes,

Painted in a dreamlike, figurative style that is disarming in its sincerity, the images bring
together many different elements of Iranian culture, from religious ritual and sacred

scriptures to folk tales and children’s stories. “I use my dreams, wishes, memorabilia
and legend, plus information about the species, to extend my imagination,” [Naeemaei]

says. “In each painting, I’ve lived with an animal in my mind. It is a deep connection.” In

effect, she is asking us to do the same, to identify with the animals in a more personal
way, as though they were part of our family.

Dreaming becomes a powerful medium of communication, both for her personally and
for the viewers of these artworks. Dreams take us out of the comfortable region of the

conscious mind to a mental and physical place where emotion comes into play much

more readily. In many ways, Maeemaei is saying that the purely logical mind has its
limitations when it comes to expressing the pain and grief she herself feels at the loss of

these species, or the damage our way of life causes to the natural world up on which all
life depends.

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