Iranian American Artist Afruz Amighi’s “Spirit Canopy”: A Journey Through Loss and Grief

In 2021, the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, Iranian American artist Afruz Amighi was confronted with the weight of death — or as she describes “a very dense presence in the air, a canopy of spirits that I felt were just sort of hovering and lingering around.”

With these thoughts in mind, Amighi set out to work on her latest installation titled “Spirit Canopy.” Inspired by the ancient practice of offering food for the deceased in Zoroastrianism, the artist created a landscape of chain sculptures suspended from the ceiling, representing the loss felt in the face of death.

Amighi plays with light and shadow to give viewers the experience of intermingling their shadows with the shadows of the spirits cast on the wall. With skeleton keys and cranes in the installation, Amighi evokes imagery of the brutality of the Islamic Republic of Iran and honors those who have passed.