I Am Still Here — An Exhibition by Nina Rastgar

Nina Rastgar, the 2025 University of South Carolina Post-MFA Resident Artist at Stormwater Studios, presents their solo exhibition, I Am Still Here, on view from Wednesday, August 6 through Friday, August 15 at Stormwater Studios.

Through materiality, Rastgar translates thoughts and tensions into visible form. Her choice of materials carries social, cultural, and political weight—speaking not only to what is seen, but to lived experiences that hold both personal and collective meaning.

This body of work begins with a simple yet profound question: What kind of environment am I living in? From that inquiry, Rastgar explores forms and materials that align with her values and actions. She is drawn to those that help shape a language of poetic resistance—forms that reside in the space between care and action, between memory and the urgency of the present.

Having moved through the world as an outsider, Rastgar has come to understand how systems define which lives are valued and which remain unseen or ungrievable. This awareness drives her interest in exploring the connections between objects, the body, and the structural violence enacted upon individuals.

In I Am Still Here, Rastgar emphasizes the interconnectedness of militarism, ideology, and patriarchy. The concept of “perpetuated ground”—how built environments, notions of humanity, and cultural assumptions are inscribed onto bodies and landscapes—emerged from the form of a droplet. A symbol that is at once soft and nurturing, yet capable of piercing the earth like a missile.

Join Nina Rastgar for an opening reception on Thursday, August 7, from 6–8 p.m. at Stormwater Studios.

Stormwater Studios is located at 413 Pendleton Street in Columbia’s Congaree Vista District. Gallery hours are Wednesday–Sunday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Congaree Vista District. Our gallery hours are Wednesday–Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.