Shamsy Roomiani has the sunny disposition you’d expect from someone who works primarily with plants. The Dallas-based artist is interested in growth, transformation, and creating pieces that have a healing effect on their viewers. With her latest collection of works, Shamsy has made a miniature sanctuary in South Dallas’ WAAS Gallery. The show, Green Room, and its “Cocoon” installation invite people to step away from the bustle of daily life and immerse themselves in a moment of botanical serenity. 
You should take a few minutes out of your day to check it out, reset your mind, and find your center.
The experience starts with a sound bath. Make your way up the stairs of WAAS and step into the room ahead, where you’ll find a table covered in singing bowls. These are ancient instruments, frequently used in meditation, and emit a mellow hum that resonates throughout the entire floor. Through the hallway, in a light-flooded room, is the heart of the show. “Cocoon,” a copper pyramid enchanted with flower petals, quartz, and shamstones, is plucked in the middle of dozens of flourishing green plants. Here, you can sit and take in the collection of Shamsy’s 35 mm photography, crystal sculptures (shamstones), and repurposed found objects scattered in the room. Outside this door, the show is rounded out with lithographs, cyanotypes, and digital prints, all depicting plants.
The installation was a nice fit for WAAS, which recently launched an expanded wellness program, including yoga and meditation classes, and is committed to (eventually) becoming the first zero-waste art gallery in Dallas.
Cocoon is on view throughout the summer, open during gallery hours on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
See more work by Shamsy at The Gallery at North Haven Gardens through May 10th, the Sweet Tooth Hotel’s Discotech opening May 25, and KAABOO Festival, where she’ll be showing with WAAS Gallery, on May 10-12.
