Artist Houshiary explores origins, life in China museum debut

Long Museum West Bund in Shanghai is hosting Shirazeh Houshiary's first major exhibition in China, set to run through May 7.

The exhibition, titled Rhizome, features the Iranian-Bristish artist's new large-scale paintings, composite sculptures and an immersive sound and film installation, a reflection of the artists' exploration of philosophy, cosmology, geography, physics and faith.

Rhizome signifies an expanding, never-ending network of roots and possible paths, Houshiary said during a media briefing at the museum on Saturday.

"The rhizome is a map. It's a map of life. This mapping is actually what nature does in following various paths and evaluating their potential. So if you can reveal this process of networking and re-evaluation at the center of one's own psychology, then you can begin to unveil your own thoughts and all its folds."

As life starts with a breath, the exhibition starts with sound and film installation called Breath. It features a four-channel video depicting hand-drawn animations that represent the inhalations and exhalations of vocalists chanting multi-denominational prayers. First shown in this configuration during the 2013 Venice Biennale, Breath is within a black box draped in felt, its walls representing the four points of the compass and the meeting point of world cultures.