Panteha Abareshi’s film, Natural Disaster is included in the exhibition PRESENTS, which can be seen now.

What Panteha Abareshi says about her work:

“My work is rooted in my existence as a body with sickle cell zero beta thalassemia, a genetic blood disorder that causes debilitating pain, and bodily deterioration that both increase with age. Being a chronically ill body has shaped my experience into one that is extremely, and highly isolating. The nuances of disability and chronic illness are lost on the average able-bodied individual, and the marginalisation, erasure and violence that I have endured from it alone is devastating. In combination with my personal notions of gender, racial and sexual identity, I am fully immersed in otherness.

There is so little discussion surrounding this, and little to no exploration of these topics in contemporary work, and I aim to push against that lack of representation. In my practice I am warping concrete, physical forms into highly disembodied abstractions. Through my work I aim to discuss the complexities of living within a body that is highly monitored, constantly examined, and made to feel like a specimen. Taking images that are recognisable as human forms, and reducing them to gestural forms is a juxtaposition of my own body’s objectification, and dissection.”

Find out more about Abareshi’s fascinating work on her website.

PRESENTS is an online screening of short video works that don’t require an abled or physically present body in order to be performative. Curated by Romily Alice Walden and Frances Breden.

See the PRESENTS exhibition.