A welcome break from hordes of contemporary painters retreading 60’s rear-guard aesthetics, Shiva Ahmadi is instead reminiscent of her near-contemporary Wangechi Mutu. Here are the same flowing watercolor lines radiating thick tendrils of hair, the same cosmic mother figures with lumpen, childbearing hips, the same exploration of neo-mythic wild space—except all a little more predictable and kitsch-prone, and with a yellowed hippie-dentist-office glaze. The “Pressure Cooker” series of etched and plugged kettles, standing at the crossroads of conceptual metaphor, postmodern reclamation of traditional craft (in this case, the rich history of Middle-Eastern metalwork), and feminist commentary on domestic space is slightly more promising. Slightly.

Shiva Ahmadi: Tangle
Shoshana Wayne
5247 W. Adams Blvd.,
Los Angeles, CA 90016
On view through December 14th, 2024