Skip to Content
The exhibition imitates a dining room with a strict color palette in a range of reds, pinks, and whites. All three walls have draped lace and sheer cloths surrounded by frames with photographs or words. The wallpaper has a rose pattern, with dark red left and right walls and light pink middle wall. Towards the right half of the studio is a circular dining table with dinnerware and a vase full of roses. In the left corner is a table with a heart-shaped letterbox, jewelry box, and tie. The ceiling also has over a hundred small ceramic flowers hanging down. The room expresses themes of romantic love, absent presence, and roses.

Is This Where Roses Bloom?

Farhana Shah

Installation

Undergraduate
It’s uncomfortable to reveal my romance. Instead, I storytell. A precious gift since my soul started. Something I have always cherished. “Allah has made for you, from yourselves, mates” (Quran 16:72). But growing up, love was fleeting, yet it intrigued me. The rosy cheeks, glowing eyes, and heartfelt smiles were foreignly adorable. Foreign until he came along. His moon-like eyes were enchanting and shiny. When we got together, our love started slow in every aspect. Now, we share everything, from plates to space. Every corner bloomed in love roses of him. Who knew I’d be such a fool for him? I dedicate this rose-filled dwelling to him, carrying the colors I feel when with him and hope to feel hereafter. Anything he touched bloomed roses, symbolizing his presence and our love. I truly am in love. Now, I ask you to take off the rose-colored glasses. Thank you for believing in me and my vision of love. The love I never felt nor experienced all my life. This dwelling: A fantasy to fool others that I have fallen deeply in love. But I apologize to confess that he does not exist in my life yet.