Amygdala, 2021
Metal, Plaster, Oil Paint, Book, Taxidermy Fox, Collage
During a period of lockdown in Prague, Lema Ahmadi moved to the city for an exchange program and rented a small atelier. She began teaching herself oil painting, studying Matisse’s theories of harmony and composition. Working on a long strip of wallpaper, with the uncertainty of how long the academy would remain closed, the painting evolved into a subconscious narrative of her time in the city. It reflects intense emotional oscillations, the exhilaration of new love, the constant activation of fight-or-flight responses, and the intimate psychological landscape of isolation.
The work expanded into sculpture, transforming the painted strip into a monumental brain-like structure inhabited by hands, symbolizing the mind’s pervasive control over perception and emotion. Within the painting, a heart with a lock appears, representing the difficulty of moving from the mind to the heart and the challenge of accessing emotional openness. The front of the sculpture presents a face, while the back reveals its shadow, emphasizing the interplay between conscious presence and hidden psychic forces.
Amygdala merges painting and sculpture into a single, immersive form.
Photographed by Nik Jessen.
