Nature Morte is pleased to present Zimbiri: Dear tiger, a solo exhibition of new paintings, sculptures, and textile works. Through a cast of recurring animal figures, the exhibition explores how identity is shaped. Not only by who we are, but by the environments, relationships, and belief systems that influence us.

The exhibition takes its title from a play on the words deer and dear. While it references the ‘deer’ and ‘tiger’ that appear throughout the works, it also evokes the opening of a letter, suggesting an ongoing conversation with oneself. Zimbiri approaches identity not as something fixed or innate, but as a process of continual negotiation between internal experience and external influence.

At the centre of the exhibition are paintings in which deer and tigers appear wearing one another's masks. A tiger cub stands beside an adult deer, while a deer adopts the guise of a tiger. These unlikely pairings examine how families, communities, and cultures shape the values and behaviours we inherit. Here, masks function less as disguises than as symbols of influence, belonging, and adaptation.

Elsewhere, bubbles, mazes, puzzles, and boxes are used to explore how people make sense of themselves through the stories they tell, the spaces they create, and the roles they occupy within larger communities. How much of our identity is consciously chosen and how much is inherited?

The textile sculptures present human and animal figures marked with tiger stripes, drawing from traditional Bhutanese forms. Through these collective figures, the works consider how identity is shaped not only by personal experience but also by the communities we belong to.

At the heart of Zimbiri’s Dear Tiger is a simple question: how do we become who we are? Through recurring images of animals, masks, puzzles, and collective forms, the exhibition reflects on the influences we inherit, the roles we adopt, and the stories we tell ourselves along the way.