These works by Nasim Nasr are a contemporary, exaggerated interpretation of Ashkdan glass ‘tear-collectors’ originally made by the women of the Gajar Dynasty in the 17th and 18th centuries in Persia. The original bottles are the best-known examples of a Persian glassware tradition, in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and Victoria Albert Museum in London.

The glass bottles have a distinct tear-shaped opening at the top which flows into a thin curvilinear neck, before expanding into a larger round body at the base. As ‘containers for tears’ they were created to ‘collect’ women’s’ emotions during periods of separation from their family members who were absent, especially at the time of war.

Perseverance is a contemporary interpretation of historical Ashkdan, deforming their traditional shape; skewed, twisted or turned, but not broken. As humans we all similarly formed through time. These new configurations become metaphors for how we carry pain and joy through tears; we become a new form born from the old version.

These works were produced at JamFactory Adelaide.