Wilding Cran Gallery is pleased to present Marwa Abdul-Rahman’s Eternal Return on view in the back gallery. The mixed media sculptures constitute a collection of experiences, linked by themes of repetition, transition, non-linear time and constructed realities. Abdul-Rahman’s work is created from a variety of discarded materials, namely clothes that were meant for donation to the homeless but were deemed too old or damaged to do so. Instead, they appear completely transformed into free standing structures, bound with wire or rope, covered in paint and attached to rocks or cinder blocks. These individual components retain traces of their previous function but now come alive as convulsing, pulsating forms. They represent the continual act of reshaping – through both building up and tearing down – much as life is shaped not only by trauma but also by everyday occurrences.

The title Eternal Return comes from Nietzsche’s idea of eternal return and recurrence which asks: what if time is cyclical and every choice one makes is destined to repeat itself over and over again? Is this frightening or liberating? Will this state of flux eventually give way to clarity? Abdul-Rahman’s sculptures embody these questions and invite viewers to consider, what does this mean for our bodies, our lives, our universe. This is Marwa Abdul-Rahman’s first show at Wilding Cran Gallery.

About Marwa Abdul-Rahman Abdul-Rahman (b. 1974) is a mixed media artist who received her BA at Yale University before going on to complete an MFA at the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena. Her work focuses on perception and transformation, often blurring or expanding boundaries, both as a way to express a physical manifestation of freedom and to draw awareness to the idea of art as a constructed form. With these contrasting ideas, she strives to spark timely conversations about the malleability of truth and how it is informed by one’s experiences and surroundings. Her most recent solo show was on view at Museum as Retail Space (MaRS). Abdul-Rahman currently lives and works in Los Angeles.

Eternal Return is Abdul-Rahman’s first solo exhibition at Wilding Cran Gallery.