It is hard to think of persons not affected somehow by COVID. The health calamity, the carnage on art and culture, the plight of the migrant workers and the simple questions like how to pay the mortgage are an on-going theme. For some, however, the effect of COVID is more personal. It is nuanced and relates to the individual – to the muddy waters of the inside. We have all been fighting our personal struggle. That is the starting point of Sara Sasani’s recent body of work titled Quarantine.

Saras’s work illustrates in crisp clear terms, the emotions that COVID entrapment has caused. It is so to the point, it requires no context and is so honest, it needs no clarification. Emotional truth delivered on a plate.

But, there is a second and perhaps more important layer to her work. Aside from the general claustrophobic feeling caused by COVID entrapment there is a side of bitter pill on offer here.

If as a woman you have been fighting to make a place for yourself in society, not being allowed to be “out there” can be a grating existence. If, despite struggling hard to become active members of the “outside”, you are faced with yet another omnipresent force that keeps you domestic, the whole experience tightens the ropes of the COVID straight jacket even further. The scenes of domestic work are surely no accidental choice.

Sara’s work in its honesty and uncensored expression of a difficult mental state may seem bleak at first, but for me engaging with her and her work lifted my spirits. In simple terms, her work tells the truth and thereby makes it ok not to be ok.

Sara is represented by Silkroad Gallery Tehran. Check out her website sarasasani or on Instagram @sarasasani