Artist Statement

Artist's Statement Brief Life History I come from the town of Ahvaz, in the south of Iran, and was born during the time of the Iran-Iraq War. I was four when the war ended, so I did not experience the conflict directly, but the events of that era were a strong influence on the history of both my family and of the Iranian people. War is a relevant subject to work with, because its impacts are far-reaching.

I had no direct connection with the war but because it was ongoing during my childhood it affected many aspects of life. My parents and family members had stories to tell about the war as well. While many in this world are lucky enough to avoid dealing with war directly, they know it from reputation and from images in the media. So everybody has an image of war that exists in his or her head.

For me, this makes war a powerful subject matter for my work, drawing on the influence it had on my early life, but applying the theme broadly to connect with the common images of war we all seem to share. I am an Iranian Arab, so a minority in my own country, practicing a different form of Islam from the majority. I learned that some people would hate us for who we are, but I also learned to be proud.

I learned to respect my grandmother's veil, an outward sign of our difference. So my grandmother and mother are both strong influences on my work, and my art is now influenced by my mother's life story. This theme has especially become more prevalent in my work as I have begun more collaborative work with my mother in recent years. I am also influenced by the architecture that I see around us, framing our human lives.

Within the context of this architecture, people can exist as minorities or majority peoples, as men or women, or as combatants. The influence of architecture came mainly from the time I moved to Tehran at age 18. The style of living in the big city was disorienting to me, especially how the buildings looked and how the city was laid out. The city I found to be a paradox, something you might think you know, but ultimately you realize you do not know it much at all.

I found the city easier to understand at a physical distance, when I moved from it. Looking at the buildings also serves to create physical distance from me -- a city is its people but to understand the people you have to look at the way their world is framed. When I moved to the United States, I added the immigrant experience to my influences.

I tried to combine two different cultures, being both Iranian and American, and the challenges associated with this experience create more conflict that I must resolve in my work. I am still an alien to some extent, but because I try to exist in two regions and mindsets at the same time, I feel the need to cast away borders and other imaginary lines.

I have come to the realization that we are all immigrants, living temporary in whatever land we are in, and then we will give those lands to the next generation. As a result of these influences, I try in my work to try to.