"All the Pomegranates Left in the Room…" Works on paper by Sofia Zareizadeh SLU’26

This exhibition explores identity, displacement, and the emotional contradictions of living between worlds. Rooted in my experience as an international student from Iran, these works navigate the tension between connection and separation, presence and absence, privilege and guilt.

Across the works in the exhibition, the human form becomes a vessel, carrying memory, longing, and inherited histories. In Anar, the pomegranate symbolizes collective existence, reminding us that we are bound to one another despite our individuality. This sense of interconnectedness contrasts with works such as The Elephant in the Room and And I Wonder…, where distance fractures empathy and creates a quiet, isolating weight carried by those living in diaspora.

Recurring elements, enclosed spaces, divided figures, and flowing lines reflect the fluid yet constrained nature of identity. The body is not presented as fixed, but as something shaped by culture, relationships, and time. Whether through reunion, separation, or transformation, each piece questions what it means to belong.

Ultimately, the exhibition does not seek resolution. Instead, it holds space for contradiction, where joy and sorrow, and connection and isolation coexist, inviting viewers to reflect on their own place within these shared human experiences.

-Sofia Zareizadeh, SLU 2026

Cover image: Anar (all the pomegranate)

Free admission and open to the public.