Metallic Flight

Metallic Flight continues Haleh Mashian’s exploration of material transformation within the natural world. A dense forest of tree trunks stretches across the canvas, their vertical rhythm creating a structured, almost architectural field. Each trunk is rendered with specificity before being altered through Mashian’s signature material interventions.

A ground of silver glitter fills the negative space, reading as snow, light, or a suspended atmosphere. Across this surface, clear resin butterflies cling to the trunks, acting as both form and lens, catching and refracting the surface beneath them. Their presence shifts the work from landscape into something more imaginative.

The forest has long served as a subject for painters, from the atmospheric investigations of the Barbizon School to the patterned surfaces of Gustav Klimt. Mashian redirects that lineage. Her forest is not a space of quiet observation, but one of heightened material presence. It is constructed, layered, and reimagined. Nature is not simply depicted but transformed through the artist’s hand.