Statement:

Galleria Raffaella Cortese presents “Lakes Drying, Tides Rising” in Albisola, a project by Nazgol Ansarinia (Tehran, 1979) that continues the research begun with Pools and Voids (2020–2022), focusing on a vital theme: water—or rather, its absence.

Inspired by Iranian lakes like Lake Urmia, now endangered by drought and climate change, the project reflects on the fragility of water resources.

Water, once central to Iranian architecture and daily life, now appears as an absence: empty swimming pools in Tehran’s wealthiest neighborhoods stand as silent witnesses to a vanished prosperity and an uncertain future.

In the sculptural series Lakes Drying, Tides Rising (2022), Ansarinia reassembles these urban water voids into a fragmented, honeycomb-like lake—an evocative image of the delicate balance between abundance and scarcity, not just in the city, but across the country.