Sofia Pashaei

Sofia Pashaei works with oils on linen to create incredibly atmospheric domestic scenes. With a confidence in use of colour which parallels the work of the Expressionists and The Blue Rider Group, Pashaei wields her brush to each canvas with immense precision. What has shifted however, is that the figures in her pieces are women enjoying other women’s company, contrasting the male lens seen in Degas’s paintings of women bathing. The mood is one of total adoration for female intimacy and companionship. Her painting style is illustrative and graphic, crafting enticing tableaux in bedrooms, bathrooms, and kitchens. A spotlight might highlight the passing of a lemon, or the reaching for a glass of wine between friends. Functioning like candid photographs, each painting brings about a peaceful moment in time which has been carefully distilled by Pashaei. Absurdist details make their way onto the canvas, for example, a bathtub may split into a table the scale of limbs might be slightly out of kilter, or a goose may wander from outside in one painting, into a room of another work. This humour imbues each painting with a charm that is seen cohesively as they operate as an ode to female friendship.