Bita Ebnesheykhi

The Light of Hormuz

This work brings together dyed fabric and projected video to hold a memory of place. I used soil I brought back from Hormuz Island, Iran, crushed it, cooked it, and stained fabric by hand. The colours carry the heat, the dust, and the deep reds of that land. I then projected moving images of the same soil onto the dyed cloth, letting the material and its image meet again. The projection isn’t just visual, it becomes a kind of breath or pulse over the surface. This installation sits somewhere between touch and light, memory and matter, and holds space for questions of home, distance, and connection.

“This piece started with a handful of soil from Hormuz that I brought back with me. It felt important, like carrying a part of my home in my pocket. I ground it down, made pigments, dyed fabric slowly, letting the land itself become part of the work. The video projection comes from that same soil magnified, alive, shifting as if it’s remembering something. Projecting it back onto the cloth felt like closing a loop, or creating a conversation between body and land. For me, this work is about holding onto a place you’re far from, about how earth can speak, and how light can carry memory.”