Colonial Histories and Labor Exploitation – Laleh Motlagh investigates where the materials used in the mansion originally came from, highlighting the impact of colonial extraction, labor exploitation, and trade routes.

Laleh Motlagh, an Iranian Azerbaijani-American artist based in Chicago, explores themes of love, intimacy, resilience, spirituality, and cultural identity in her work. Engaging deeply with her surroundings, she addresses sociocultural alienation and the complexities of a multicultural existence. Her practice investigates personal histories shaped by oppression, questioning the nature of existence while giving voice to the unseen and unheard. Often working collaboratively with non-human elements, she utilizes drawing, painting, sculpture, performance, video, and installation to explore the intersections of human and natural life, the permissible and the taboo, and the geopolitical tensions surrounding borders and belonging.

Born in Tabriz, Iran, Motlagh is also an educator whose work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions at institutions such as Museo Universitario del Chopo (Mexico City), EXPO Chicago, Logan Center for the Arts, Chicago Artist Coalition, KHB Studios (Berlin), NAHR (Italy), Teufelsberg (Berlin), Gallery 400 (Chicago), Sarv Gallery (Tehran), and Farhang Gallery (Tabriz), among others. Her achievements include the Individual Artists Program grant from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, recognition as a Newcity Breakout Artist, a U.S. Fulbright Independent Artist Research grant, and the Provost’s Award for Graduate Research. She holds an MFA from the University of Illinois Chicago.