[2012 Feb 8 - Apr 4] Digital Still Lifes
Minto Suite Hotel, Ottawa
This is my first digital photography exhibition. These works were evolved out of my painting series when at some point I decided to represent the still lifes using the camera as a brush and the CCD sensors as a canvas. That is where the title of the exhibition comes from. Similar to my paintings, sources of inspiration include Persian literature, poets including Rumi, Hafez, and Khayyam, Islamic culture and the Qur’an, personal memories, personal objects and belongings in addition to my imagination. I notice some sort of profundity in seeing and incorporating everyday objects in my works. Photographs presented here are in fact mixed media works in a sense because I use my sculptures in them too. Many of the objects are gifts, old or new, received from beloved friends and relatives over the past years. My studio is my bedroom and the white background you observe is my bed surface! I try to be honest and that is what matters to me. I prefer not to use titles because they are limiting in occasions. Instead, I am willing to put a mirror in front of the audience so that everyone gets a chance to find herself in them.
Symbols used here root in the three cultures that I have been immersed in for several years, that is Iran, Islam, and the West, and they have become part of me now. However, instead of seeking a fixed and rigid identity, I try to keep things fluid. Instead of highlighting contradictions, I share my excitement about contrasts and even coherences. My discourse is about the intermediate worlds, the world that I live in as an immigrant and I am constantly challenged with, an energy taking yet enriching state of being. Instead of providing answers, I prefer to raise questions. Questions about the relationship between the old and the new, the constant and the variable, sky and the earth, play of our hopes and fears, laughter and tears, and at last but not least, the concept of time and change.
I am perplexed by the secrets of our universe as well as human being itself and I enjoy it when I share my feelings with others. I try to talk about love.
مرحبا ای عشق خوش سودای ما ای طبیب جمله علتهای ما
[2010 Jan 22 - March 9] Culture and Memories
Minto Suite Hotel, Ottawa
In this exhibition I am presenting eleven figurative paintings from a series which was completed in 2008. The sources of inspiration for these works are varied and include Persian poetry, personal memories, and everyday objects.
Reading Persian poetry is one of my life-long passions. They are very colorful, full of passion and love. They evoke peace, imagination and creativity in me. Some pieces of poetry remain with me forever, affecting me deeply, shaping images in my mind. The works in this exhibition are my attempt to express visually some of those images.
Ideas for some of the works come from my personal memories, especially the memories of my home country. Living within a different context now, makes me able to better see the big picture, looking back as an observer. The way my people have lived for centuries, especially their culture and traditions, have become a subject of fascination for me.
Finally, there are some paintings in which everyday objects are used as the subject matter. These are objects that I see daily, in my bedroom, or carry with me wherever I go. I believe many lessons can be learned by noticing the details. I tried to represent the very multicultural way of my life in Canada through these still life compositions.
Through these paintings, I express my joys and feelings with you. I hope you enjoy viewing them! At the end, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mrs. Mahvash Mortazavi, my dear painting instructor in the year 2008, and all the kind instructors and the staff at the Ottawa School of Art for providing the necessary means for me to be able to experience visual arts and present my work.
[2009 March 4 - 31] Nostalgia: Childhood Paintings
Cafe Nostalgica, Ottawa
The set of fifty pieces exposed here are reproductions of my childhood paintings made since I was 9 years old. I took ideas from different sources including TV programs, newspapers, sports events, magazines, surrounding objects, and photographs, in addition to my own imagination.
