Shulamit Nazarian is pleased to present Reflections and Returns, a solo presentation of early paintings from 2008–2011 by Los Angeles-based artist Amir H. Fallah. These works, which have never before been exhibited in the United States, illuminate the development of his acclaimed Veiled Portrait series, a body of work that interrogates systems of representation and portraiture in Western art history. In Reflections and Returns, paintings from Fallah’s Fort Series are combined with his earliest Veiled Portrait paintings. This presentation provides a rare glimpse into the earliest works of two significant series; core pieces that became building blocks to a prolific decade of his practice./// Reflections and Returns trace the experimental lineage that led to Fallah’s notable and current Veiled Portrait series. From the start, the artist’s impulse to capture the nostalgia of building childhood forts transformed into the beginning of his portrait practice, and more directly, a portrait of himself. In keeping with his investigation, he carries over the wooden platform structure of his Fort Series into his 2011 portraits: plants that once served as surrogates for the body are replaced with veiled human figures that sit atop a pedestal. Rather than depicting one’s physical features, Fallah charts one’s likeness through the objects a person chooses to keep in their homes. These Fort Series paintings and early Veiled Portraits propose an intimate reflection of our memories, one that recalls the significance of the items we identify with and carry forward in our lives.