On Sunday, April 26 at 4pm, Topical Cream and Earth Gallery in New York  hosted D I O R A M A S, a live one-hour meditative voicework by Sahra Motalebi. Hosted on the artist’s birthday, and curated by Lyndsy Welgos, Topical Cream’s Executive Director,  D I O R A M A S invited viewers into a sonic environment for an  immersive exchange where voice, stillness, and the collective unconscious became critical tools for collective imagination and emotional attunement. 

Previously described as “meditative soundspaces for collective, relational imagination,” Motalebi’s inaugural live D I O R A M A S guided viewers  into a mode of collective deep listening with sustained controled vocalization and subtle shifts in movement and positioning. 

During this work Motalebi created an atmosphere that encouraged inward reflection while emphasizing the communal nature of  mental  perception and presence. By stripping away external distractions, the work forced viewers into a quiet, introspective dialogue with their own thoughts. Yet, because this vulnerability was experienced in a shared physical location, it seemed to transform what could have been an isolated moment into a collective exchange.

During the artist’s dialogue the audience became hyper-aware not only of their own existence but of the shared, synchronized presence of those around them. The  DIORAMAS as the artist calls them seemed to provide the space for deep individual visualizations that are unavoidably tied to the communal experience surrounding the viewer. 

Sahra Motalebi’s multidisciplinary practice spans music, performance, writing, and education. Alongside her work as an artist, she has studied and practiced nondual meditation for over twenty years and currently works as a community-based psychotherapist in Upstate New York. These unique combined experiences deeply inform the artist’s approach to sound and voice. 

In this way, D I O R A M A S proposed another kind of artistry: an invitation to listen closely, and visualize the worlds we may yet create collectively or unconsciously. 

 

This voicework is for artistic and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice or psychotherapy.

Special Thanks to: Julia Burlingham, Christopher Kunderlera
Photographer by David Zavala