“Like that of many children, the childhood of Vida Dena has been recorded in photographs. For this set of drawings, Vida Dena started from family photos ofter childhood, especially those pictures that ‘fell off the table’ and those that ended up in the shoe box.In the drawing, the artist is interfering in the actual photos by using her imagination. She chose these photos purposely because they have a strange, somewhat abnormal essence, a kind of magical reality that gives more power to the imaginary parts of the works. “Rituals” then is a tricky name she gives to this project to make us believe that these rituals are actually happening in reality in Iran’s exotic culture, which in fact is just a touch of humor by an artist coming from the Middle East who is often perceived as an exotic person.Living in Europe deprives Vida Dena of direct connection with relatives. The process of making drawings starting from childhood photos is a search for shared experiences with them, her nostalgic feelings for her childhood as well as the life in Iran, her lost and confused identity and her melancholic feelings of happiness and sadness.”
