Lillie Schwier
The Southern Editor
Artist Mally Khorasantchi explores the interplay of order versus chaos, beauty, danger and growth through pain in her immersive paintings. Khorasantchi’s exhibit, “Nature & Mystery: The Art of Mally Khorasantchi,” was showcased at Florida Southern’s Ashley Gibson Barnett Museum of Art from June 15 to Sept. 15.
Dr. Alex Rich, the museum’s Executive Director and Chief Curator, Associate Professor of Art History, and Chair of the Department of Art History and Museum Studies, leads “Gallery Perspective,” a monthly tour analyzing the current exhibits. Honors students and special guests gathered at the museum on Friday, Sept. 13 for Rich’s tour before it closed on the 15th. Rich uncovered Khorasantchi’s life story while interpreting her work.
Born in Düsseldorf, Germany after World War II and now living in Naples, Mally Khorasantchi draws inspiration from nature, blending elements of chaos, change, and shared human experiences with her journey.
While the war and her specific experiences are not directly expressed, Rich states that “we cannot decontextualize works of art from the time that they were made. They might not directly address what’s going on in the world but you can never remove the artist from the time in which they created a work of art.”
Khorasantchi’s work heavily incorporates Florida’s flora and fauna with subtle collage photos, some of which are people, others elements in nature, and even cutouts of telegraphs.
“She works for ‘x’ number of days every day and then she goes and she sits outside and enjoys Florida weather,” Rich said. This love of escape she feels from nature is incredibly evident in her work.
None of her works have a singular focal point, but are large-scale and meant to be immersive. Each element and how it is interconnected to another should be closely observed.
Khorasantchi has many series that are inspired by the same theme and topics. “Metamorphosis” consists of eight paintings all created during 2020. These draw from not only the changes experienced through the pandemic but also her personal changes of going through spinal surgery.
A 2024 series, “The Sun Also Rises,” was created shortly after her husband’s passing and serves as a tribute to him. While moving homes, Khorasantchi found telegram love letters that she and her husband had written to each other in the early 1980s. Around the same time, she visited Hemingway’s home in Key West where she made a connection between his telegrams and her own. She included clips of her original telegraphs in the paintings and attached the entire telegram to the back as a way of keeping their authenticity.
“Rhapsody in Blue” is a four-panel oil on paper grisaille painting that was created specifically for the museum’s exhibition. Inspired by Gershwin’s musical composition, this work combines music and art.
Another notable work in the collection is titled “Me Too.” Created in 2018, two years after the Me Too movement began, this large-scale, two-panel oil painting uses a dramatic red stroke across the center to illustrate the theme that something that seems beautiful can be deadly. This piece uniquely evokes feelings of anger and fear. Photo clippings of women with their faces covered over and images of geysers represent beauty often being deceiving.
Recently added to the museum’s permanent collection, Rich intentionally chose it to spark conversations in an academic setting.
“I want to make sure that the ones that we add to our collection have value beyond the time when we acquire them,” Rich said.
Mally Khorasantchi invites viewers to explore themes of transformation, grief, and resilience, reflecting both her journey and broader human experiences. Her work, including the impactful “Me Too,” not only enriches the museum’s collection but also fosters meaningful dialogue and reflection. Khorasantchi’s ability to weave personal narratives with universal themes underscores the enduring power of art to connect, challenge, and inspire.
