In/Between : Morteza Khakshoor & Sofia Pashaei
at EDJI Gallery
Rue du Page 15
1050 Brussels
June 11 - July 26, 2025
EDJI and Ballon Rouge, both Brussels-based emerging art galleries, collaborate to bring you “In/Between,” with works by Morteza Khakshoor and Sofia Pashaei from June 11 through July 26 — hosted by and at EDJI.
Titled “In/Between,” the pairing of Khakshoor and Pashaei in this exhibition is as much about how the two artist’s practices diverge as it is about how they align. In fact, liminal spaces are where their practices flourish. Captured moments, snapshots, relationships are zoomed into and out of. Both artists share an ability to create an intimate image that elicits a desire to parse its before and after. Khakshoor and Pashaei are world builders who play with allegory, narrative, composition, and context. Their worlds are entirely different but in and between them there are perhaps many shared stories.
Morteza Khakshoor: “I think the narrative force in my work in general, and for this show, is the psychological and emotional state of the protagonists I let lead in my images. The figures, regardless of what they appear to be doing and their relations to their surroundings, are captured in the moments that beg the questions of who they might be, where they came from, what they may have been doing and will do right after the moment seen in the picture. At least that is what I aspire to do and hope my images are able to provide most importantly to and for me if not for the future viewers. Male characters and their behaviours used to be the sole players of my images until very recently. I think that will remain a key part of my work for some time as the concepts of manhood, masculinity, and our collective understanding around it has been an everlasting fascination for me. It is neither admiration nor critique of manhood per say, rather its entirety and complexities with all its pathos - that also is deeply woven into sexuality, power dynamics, identity, and so many other aspects of what it is to be a human - that keeps me drawn to this subject.”
Sofia Pashaei: “This series in particular is quite personal. It turns inward to explore my relationship with my sister. Growing up, we had what we called the “pink sistership”—a closeness that felt larger than just being siblings. At times, she took on the role of a mother—not because our own mother wasn’t present, but because cultural and language gaps sometimes made it difficult for our mother to reach us in the ways we needed. Now, watching my sister become a mother herself, I feel our bond shifting—growing fuller, more complex, and tender in ways I hadn’t expected. I began working on these paintings while she was giving birth to her second daughter. It felt incredibly moving, like I was not only reflecting on who we were, but also witnessing the beginning of a new pink sistership forming. Reflecting on how nurturing female relationships are, have pushed my work to dig closer and zoom in—both emotionally and visually. In the most vulnerable moments, the gestures of the figures are blown out, closely tied, and intimate. In other moments, the canvases become smaller, the figures more simplified—a quiet homage to the simplicity that childhood and adolescence evokes when we look back on it.”
Read a short interview with Morteza and Sofia here.
If you would like to receive a preview, write us at info@ballonrougecollective.com
Morteza Khakshoor (b. 1984, Iran) currently resides and works in Los Angeles. Drawing from personal memory, cultural displacement, and the absurdities of masculinity, Khakshoor’s practice spans drawing, printmaking, and sculpture. His work is rooted in narrative, often exploring the psychological and emotional states of the solitary male figure.
His recent solo exhibitions include 'The Itch' at Solito Gallery in Naples (2024), 'Rapscallions' at Lundgren Gallery in Palma de Mallorca (2024), 'Studio Visit' at Emma Gray HQ in Santa Monica (2024), 'Pin-Drop' at Duane Thomas Gallery in New York (2023), 'The Quiet Path To Otherwhere' at Taymour Grahne Projects in London (2023), and 'Dirty Words & A Melody' at Wilder Gallery in London (2022).
He moved to the U.S. in 2010 and received his BFA in Sculpture from Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts in 2015, followed by an MFA in Printmaking from The Ohio State University in 2018. In 2018, he was awarded the inaugural Emerging Artist Award at the Editions/Artists' Book Fair in New York. His work is held in public and private collections including The Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice in New York, X Museum in Beijing, and The Bunker Collection in Palm Beach.
Sofia Pashaei (b. 1989, Sweden) currently resides and works in Brussels. She is an artist and independent animation director. Her debut solo exhibition, 'Meaning in the off Hours', was showcased at Ballon Rouge in 2022. She followed this with her second solo exhibition 'An Orphan in the Territory of Giants' at the gallery in 2024. In 2023, Pashaei received the Kells Collection award at the SWAB art fair in Barcelona for her solo presentation with Rafael Perez Hernando Gallery.
Pashaei's work has been showcased in numerous group exhibitions at Fondation Boghossian in Brussels, The Hole and Hashimoto Contemporary in New York and Delphian Gallery in collaboration with Unit1 in London. In her capacity as an animation director, Pashaei has collaborated with prominent clients such as The New York Times, Google, TED and MTV. Her animated short films have been screened at renowned animation and film festivals around the world.