From sketches and drawing to a full-fledged metaphysical animation trilogy, it's a bit hard to believe Laleh Khorramian when she says that the final product wasn't planned. However, her earnestness and narration of the journey convinces you.
The Iranian artist's works - animations included - are currently showing at the Third Line Gallery and as we run through her works ranging from simple clean line sketches of bedroom activities, aptly titled Bedroom Series to the digital prints and two animation films that are played on loop, she states that it's the process that she enjoys the most.
"I can't really say that the theme comes first and then I start working the details to get there. It's definitely the drawing that comes out first. It could start from a thought, a slight movement of the hand and that could then become an obsession and an exploration of that obsession," she says.
The priority
Though Khorramian is trained in film, it's drawing and sketching that takes priority and she says the animation just sort of happened. "Obviously the fact that I've got a film background made me explore this aspect and it's part of a trilogy," she says. Having worked on every single aspect alone, the whole process of getting the drawings - including previous materials - took her about a year while the animation procedure was completed in six months.
Editing, sound, filming and the music were all handled by her and the final films revolve around journeys. The first in the series is Sophie and Goya which is followed by Chopperlady. "There is a feminist perspective but it's not that other viewpoints are ignored," she says.
On the themes of journeys, Khorramian says that there's no hidden motive and that they're very much about personal journeys. "Not necessarily my personal journeys. They are about regeneration and the continuation of things in time and from history and how history resurfaces," she says.
Her raw works on paper appear to be a muted attempt at editing and this gives her final animation the feel of an extension of the sketches. "It is very much about time continuing and the detail becoming a present scenario and at the same time part of the past and future," she says.
However, there are hidden meanings and symbolisms that she's worked on, such as the presence of a pregnant lady, which Khorramian says is a symbol of constancy. "It's how the same things continue but there is always a personal story," she says.
