Hayv Kahraman Explores Gut Microbiome and Trauma in New Paintings

The Third Line presents Gut Feelings: Part II, Hayv Kahraman's fifth solo exhibition with the gallery, featuring new paintings and drawings that investigate trauma's effects on the body and the gut's role in healing. Kahraman, a Los Angeles-based artist whose practice is shaped by her refugee experience, focuses on neuroscience, human immunology, and neurosculpting—the restructuring of neural pathways via the gut microbiome. The gut, often called the 'second brain,' regulates hormones controlling emotions through bacteria. Kahraman uses torshi, a fermented beetroot dye from Middle Eastern cuisine believed to improve mental wellbeing, as paint, incorporating jars of torshi in the exhibition. This medium symbolizes acceptance of difference and symbiosis with the 'other.' The works depict exposed digestive organs as metaphors for the restorative process, addressing otherness and the connection between mind and body. The exhibition occupies both gallery spaces.