In "Hotbed", 2020, Sheida Soleimani constructs an image using the Iranian health minister's arm wiping sweat from his forehead while making light of the Coronavirus as the centerpiece. Surrounding the arm are aerial views of mass graves of pandemic casualties, lime powder (used to dissolve human remains), chunks of grass and dirt, floral imprinted toilet paper, money, chains, and a box of tissues. While there is humor in the gesture of nervously sweating while lying to the public, the image itself is captivating and absurd and begging to be decoded. Once you do begin to break it down it is a condemnation of corruption and the revealing of a more brutal truth.

This work is part of the series "Levers of Power", where Soleimani examines the gestures through which political authority is performed and circulated. Drawing from widely distributed media images, she isolates the hands and arms of politicians, activists, and public figures from the United States and Iran, freezing them in moments of pointing, wiping, grasping, or directing.