THIS IS NO FANTASY presents In Between Forms, the first solo exhibition by Ara Dolatian since joining the gallery. The exhibition explores unstable states between human, animal and the monstrous, drawing on Mesopotamian female deities, queens and poetic traditions — particularly the voice of Enheduanna and The Exaltation of Inanna. Through sculpture, Dolatian reimagines ancient acts of invocation as contemporary forms of transformation.
Influenced by feminist and queer readings of Mesopotamian history, the works consider the body as fluid, relational and continually shifting across gender, species and time. Horned figures, inspired by ancient symbols of divinity, emerge as sacred yet otherworldly presences, resisting fixed identity and patriarchal systems of power.
Presented in a restrained palette of white and gold, the sculptures oscillate between archaeological relic and living body, holding tension between ruin and elevation, absence and presence, while transformation remains ongoing and unresolved.
