Pacific Breeze II

About the work  

This fan image is part of Teona Yamanidze's ongoing project “Temporary Shelter” that started during the pandemic. It is the reference to the current state of mind as she has found herself locked in her Tbilisi apartment. Though most of the images may represent Yamanidze's surroundings, she is adding the fictional component to what is seen inside the rooms. Yamanidze is also using the still images from several films that she watched during the lockdown. 

“The Yellow Parrot” fan painting is based on a still image from the film “The time of the  Wolf” by Michael Haneke. 

Statement/bio 

Teona Yamanidze's works reflect on her personal experiences as an immigrant  Georgian woman. Through creating abstract structural compositions in opposition to  the figure she tries to draw a parallel between the social construct of Georgian culture and its interaction with the western mindset. Each work tells the fictional story  of a girl, a boy, a woman, or a representative of the minority during or after the violent act of the abuse and displacement. In her recent body of work, she is trying to construct a myth-of-self, which casts a negative light on the relationship between the expectations of society and self-examination.  

Yamanidze's works have been exhibited nationally and internationally, including the  General Consulate of Georgia in New York, Winzavod Center for Contemporary Culture in Moscow, Berlin International Art Week, and Mars center for contemporary  culture in Moscow. She was involved in a project with the Everson Museum for  Contemporary Art titled “That Day Now: Shadows Cast by Hiroshima” devoted to the  70 year anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan. She has been an artist, creating show-specific artwork as well as a curator and researcher within the  archives of the Museum in preparation for the exhibit. Teona is a recipient of the  Edmund S. Muskie Fellowship'17 for young leaders, Fulbright research scholarship and Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant.