With Land of Dreams , the intention was that while we are following the life of this woman who’s haunted by these two worlds – Iran and US, dream and reality – we are also really understanding the malice of a society that is spying on people’s subconscious for whatever selfish reasons. There is definitely a question of collecting data on people, but also there’s a lot of references to racism, bigotry, political injustice, poverty. — Shirin Neshat In Land of Dreams , Iranian multimedia artist Shirin Neshat turns her focus to the American West. With more than 100 photographs, a two-channel video installation, and a feature film, Neshat creates a multilayered, nuanced look at contemporary America through the eyes of a fictionalized artist. Monumental black-and-white photographs are transformed through Neshat's use of Farsi text and images that have been hand drawn onto the picture. The texts represent her interpretation of the dreams of the sitter, with references to ancient myths and ideologies. Throughout her practice, Neshat experiments with the mediums of photography, video and film, which she imbues with highly poetic and politically charged images and narratives that question issues of power, religion, race, gender, and the relationship between past and present, occident and orient, the individual and the collective through the lens of her personal experiences as an Iranian woman living in exile. Land of Dreams accompanies Neshat's solo show at SITE Santa Fe (October 7, 2022-January 13, 2023).