2022
Immortal Flowers collection

In this land where the Navids and Siavashs championed, the ancient flag of Kavian was waved by the hands of the Mahsas and the Nikas with their flowing hairs waving in the wind, treading on their motherland.
Behold each body you have hidden in the cold earth as the earth moved and in its stead created eternal flowers ... the name of this land was Iran.

The poster-sized works in “Immortal Flowers” depict surreal scenes within rectangular frames that embed symbols of Iran’s recent socio-political turmoil and protest into seemingly innocuous scenes such as floral still-lifes, city-scapes, or landmarks of Iranian significance. Anonymous figures (often female) are piled haphazardly on top of each other, and other times arranged more formally in pyramidal compositions, emerging from the leaves of a flower within a still-life. The flexed and strained limbs of these figures exude a feeling of physical struggle, as they extend their reach outside of their disguised settings as if trying to escape the four-sided composition they are concealed within. Beneath each of these larger scenes are smaller rectangular boxes that contain references to varying themes: hope, despair, childhood, innocence, bloodshed, civil unrest, and death. With all of Davoud’s work in this series, at first glance, we are faced with a gentle scene. Yet the closer we get, the more we look, the potent political subtext makes itself clear. Throughout the entire series of works, Davoud in no uncertain terms condemns the state and their acts of violence against the Iranian people. Davoud memorialises the lives lost and holds those responsible to account.

Davoud has absorbed, digested, and engaged the subjects, motifs, and events that have consumed Iran since the protests began in September 2022. While the country continues to stand at a perilous social and political crossroads, the works in “Immortal Flowers'' respond to the trauma, tragedy, and anger that runs through contemporary Iranian society, while providing possibilities of hope for a better future. The multitudinous implications of flowers throughout the show; from purity and innocence to hardship, death, and decay present Davoud’s view of where Iran stands plainly. “Immortal Flowers” leads us to consider the possible routes the country can take while leaving us with an undying dream for change. 

Bravery (2022)
In Bravery (2022) for instance, Davoud carefully conceals a severed dark braid beneath an arrangement of red and white flowers, rendered in reverence to the women who publicly chopped off their hair in an act of solidarity with Mahsa Amini.

Zahedan resistance (2022)
This work stands as a potent tribute to the Zahedan Massacre, a series of violent crackdowns by the state that resulted in many in 2022. The protests were the result of the rape of a 15-year-old girl by a  police force commander in Chabahar in June 2022. Though the work reads at first glance as a magisterial depiction of a building that represents religious and moral authority, upon closer inspection it is a memorial to the terrible violence inflicted upon Iranians by the state.

Unforgettable 742
Unforgettable 742 (2022) plainly references the Ukrainian Airlines 752 Aeroplane that was shot down by the IRGC in 2020, killing all crew and passengers on board. The toy plane crashed into a floral arrangement set against a menthol-green background. Beneath this tableau is a child’s red ballet pump that starkly brings to the fore the egregious tragedy and loss of life caused by the state. 

Throughout the entire series of works, Davoud in no uncertain terms condemns the state and their acts of violence against the Iranian people. Davoud memorialises the lives lost and holds those responsible to account.

Luli Gibbs

The works on paper quietly reflect the rage felt by Davoud at the war being waged against the rights of Iranian women. Clear references are made to protest in her recent body of work, rewarded through close examination of "Immortal Flowers".