Swan House Fall Exhibitions (saturdays)

From the venue:

from within, so together

Mona Bozorgi & Tokie Rome-Taylor
September 11 - October 16

Mona Bozorgi & Tokie Rome-Taylor
Curated by Ashley Kauschinger
Opening Reception: Thursday, September 11, 6 - 9 pm
Artist Talk: Saturday, September 13, 3 pm
Exhibition Dates: September 11 - October 16

The Swan Coach House Gallery is pleased to present from within, so together, an interdisciplinary photography exhibition featuring Florida-based artist, Mona Bozorgi, and Atlanta-based artist, Tokie Rome-Taylor. The exhibition opens on Thursday, September 11 from 6 - 9 pm and will be on view through October 16.

from within, so together, pairs the work of interdisciplinary photographers Mona Bozorgi and Tokie Rome-Taylor. Both artists reframe photographic representation by decolonizing imagery and challenging historical and contemporary portrayals of women, Iranians, and African Americans. Their practices blend photography with textiles, sculpture, installation, archival processes, and digital techniques, creating boundary-crossing forms that explore the symbolic exchange between culture, image, and object. In dialogue, their work shares a commitment to challenging dominant photographic traditions and expanding the language of identity, memory, and belonging.

Mona Bozorgi examines the power dynamics of representing women in Iran, where government control extends into daily life through surveillance and mandated veiling. Working with images of women in protest collected online, she prints them on silk and then methodically removes threads, creating compositions that recall both geometric Islamic design and historical photographic traditions while subverting state control representation. Her process of revealing and concealing through the manipulation of fabric mirrors the tension between visibility and erasure that defines Iranian women's experience. This removal of threads also transforms how we perceive the image, compelling the viewer to adjust their perspective. As viewers adapt their view to comprehend the altered images, they are asked to consider how control, concealment, and resistance shape the ways women are seen or unseen.