Osheen Harruthoonyan / Uchronie Fragments

De Soto Gallery presented Uchronie Fragments by Osheen Harruthoonyan, the gallery's first online exhibition, exclusively on Artsy. Originally intended for a physical space, the exhibition shifted entirely online due to the pandemic. A special edition from the original series was reimagined in collaboration with the gallery and released for the first time as an oversize (40 x 50 inch) pigment print.

Uchronie Fragments drew inspiration from the artist's family history—so altered by retelling that it became a hypothetical past. What remained was an idealism passed down through generations, deeply encoded in Harruthoonyan's psyche yet not entirely his own. His images served as yet another iteration of these shared stories, nonspecific but familiar enough to evoke collective nostalgia.

Blending concepts of multiverses and memory's fluidity, Harruthoonyan approached image-making as a scientific experiment. He began with source images—either personal narratives staged for the camera or imagined scenes inspired by found photographs—shot on 4x5 film. From there, he manually dissected the negatives, removing and reassembling layers of emulsion to test how much could be altered while still triggering a visceral response.

In their stark blackness and absence of faces, the figures read as archetypes—open to Freudian projection and transference. Stripped down yet rich in texture and ornamentation, the scenes evoke shared memories that feel both intimate and universal. By expanding this vast psychological space, Harruthoonyan suggests there is much to be discovered in the absence of light, and that multiple realities—especially the most hopeful ones—can endure.

Osheen Harruthoonyan (b. 1981, Tehran, Iran) has exhibited internationally at major institutions including Fotografiska and the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto. His work and process have been featured on Vice!, Bravo!Arts, The Space Channel, and the CBC's Exhibitionists.