Vian Sora (CRF 2025) (Iraq/USA) presents her first solo museum exhibition in the United States, Outerworlds, at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art from June 22nd to September 7th, 2025. After the exhibition’s debut at SBMA, it will travel to the Speed Art Museum and Asia Society Texas.
The exhibition features 20~ of Sora’s major works charting her growth as an artist over a period of seven years (2016–2023). The title comes from two eponymous works included in the exhibition (below) that Sora finished in 2021 while at another artist residency, this time in Berlin. The paintings abstractly channel the tumultuous events of her life from childhood, ancient Mesopotamian history, and Iraq’s diverse natural landscapes, including its deserts, rivers, and archeological sites.
Describing her process, Sora says in a recent Observer interview, “I initiate each of my works with the canvas flat, then I utilize fast-drying spray paint, acrylics, pigments and inks, applying each…with brushes, sponges, spray bottles or my breath to move the medium, creating passages…like ventricles, sometimes tissue. I then use oil to control the disarray, layering various hues in an intuitive process…that attempts to constrain chaos, when life regenerates from detritus.” Below, Sora painting at the Castle and the flat canvas she worked on in the courtyard during her residency at Civitella.
📍June 22-September 7: Santa Barbara Museum of Art
📍October 10-January 18, 2026: Speed Art Museum
📍April 2-July 5, 2026: Asia Society Texas
