Farah Ossouli
Audio of the Entire Interview
Interview Transcript
Part 01
Part one
Childhood and Education
I was born in 1953 (1332) in Zanjan (a city in north-west of Iran)
and lived there till I was 13 or 14, finishing guidance school.
Then, we migrated to Tehran. I remember many sweet wonderful
memories from Zanjan – nice nature, great gardens and village.
We went to the garden and village for many times.
My parents were really kind. I have two brothers and three sisters.
Our childhood passed in playing games, having fun, travelling
and doing nice things. Really great memories!
My childhood was like a paradise and it was really difficult for me
to leave it – well, no paradise is eternal and we should leave.
I left that paradise but the whole memories
and the values are kept in my mind and my soul.
The outcomes of that paradise are being hopeful in the life,
loving the life, trusting others and loving them.
When we lived in Zanjan, we travelled to Tehran for many times
in a year – most of my mother’s relatives lived in Tehran.
We always travelled to Tehran for the
holidays of the new year (Norooz).
Half of Summer we were in Tehran and the other half
we travelled to other cities like the North – good experiences for us.
One of my aunts studied at art school –
the same art school I studied thereafter.
She, then, continued studying at the Faculty of Decorative Arts
(a faculty at Tehran University). Imagine! At that time, it was a great task.
An art school in Tehran?
Yes. She was M.A. in Graphic. My uncle (mother’s brother)
and my aunt (mother’s sister) were students in Germany.
There was a tendency toward modernity
with my mother’s family and her relatives.
I could feel it in their moral and morale.
They were a non-traditional family and encouraged us to study and learn art.
Based on that time and comparing my father’s family,
they – including my mother – had modern thoughts and viewpoints.
My father’s family and relatives were severe traditional and religious;
I grew up in that too much completely different atmosphere.
Surprisingly, I am in a mutual understanding with them both
because they were both so much kind.
They didn’t impose us to do or act like them
so they didn’t bother us at all.
One of my aunts was translator and the other was a painter.
My father’s sisters wore black Chadors and were severe religious.
My grandmother (mother’s mom) was a social activist and a school head.
My mother was also a head of the school I was studying at.
My father’s mom always wore a scarf in a way
that only a part of her face was seen;
but my father’s family and his relatives were really kind
if the family and relatives love each other and be kind with each other,
anybody can have his/her own belief – without any pressure
to make others having the same believes.
Such a manner provides a great atmosphere for the children
to grow up well – like the atmosphere we grew up in.
One of my aunts, who was the student of painting at that time,
came to our home in Zanjan;
our big beautiful house with a big balcony.
Our guests would have slept in the balcony, on the roof or in the yard.
There was a big garden, belonged to my mother’s family,
that we slept there whole night.
There was a fantastic building at the center
where my mother’s uncle lived.
He had painted columns of the building colorfully –
it reflects the artistic talent of him.
At about 60 years ago, he painted each column in different colors
that was really attractive for us as the children. Wonderful!
Whenever my aunt painting on the canvas with oil-color,
I would sit beside her and watched her work eagerly.
She gave me large papers and oil-color
and asked me to paint or draw whatever I wanted.
There wasn’t a systematic method of teaching art at that time.
I painted whatever I liked and I really enjoyed that.
My mother sewed us nice clothes
and my aunt drew some paintings on them.
Therefore, I had some unique clothes nobody had.
I had a dress with a painting of a girl on one side of the skirt
and a painting of a dog on the other side;
my mother had sewed a thin small chain
to connect the girl and the dog.
My aunt had painted my name on a part of my clothes.
Different great experiences! I liked them all.
I was a good clever student at the primary school,
always the best one.
Besides, I would always paint as if I was charged to paint.
Beside painting at home and at school, I liked literature;
I would write, sometimes. I started writing some tales when I was 10.
I liked the dolls so much and, as I mentioned in my website, I was
profession at writing tales and play with my dolls based on those tales.
Little by little, I felt that those dolls are not enough for me.
So, I started to paint the dolls;
Then, I made some tales to play with them –
the king, the queen, the evil, the kind and many other figures.
Having finished playing with them, I threw them a way
and made some new ones.
I painted the dolls on the paper, cut them and played with them.
I always wished to be a writer. My teachers at the essay classes
would encouraged me to read my essays in the class.
They enjoyed my writings so they encouraged me
to become an author or a story-writer.
On the other side, my painting teachers
encouraged me to become a painter.
After migrating to Tehran, I studied at a school I didn’t like it at all
because I would have studied at my mother’s school
and then at a high-level school in Zanjan;
we played volleyball and ping-pong there but there weren’t such facilities
in that school in Tehran so I didn’t like to study there.
Once, after reading my essay at the essay class, my teacher was
satisfied with me and asked me to take my notebook to score my essay.
She said: “what a good handwriting you have.”
It was the time she could realize my talents;
it was interesting for her. “Where are you from?
You weren’t here last year in this school,” she said.
Gradually, I could show my skills and enjoy studying at that school.
My painting teacher asked me to take part
in the painting competitions for several times.
I took part in some painting competitions when I was living in Zanjan.
Once, my photo was printed in “Keyhan Bacheha”
(a newspaper for the children and the youth).
Another time, my photo was hung on a billboard at the crossroads.
I won some prizes for those competitions.
One of those prizes was to participate in a painting class i.e.
they told us that I could participate in a painting class.
The painting class was held somewhere in front of Museum of Ancient Iran
(the first Iranian museum located at the Mashhq Square in Tehran)
Mr. Hazavehi was the master at that painting class;
he is a great professional painter.
He taught painting only once and then he migrated to America.
I think it was 1344 (1965) or 1345 (1966).
Mr. Hazavehi put wooden tripods, gave us large papers and coal.
Then, he asked us to draw.
It was like a paradise! We thought it was the best.
That painting class lasted for three months.
Thereafter, I took part in another painting competition.
My prize as a winner of that competition was to attend
the painting class at art school for summer course
Mr. Mohammad Ebrahim Jafari saw my paintings
when I was at guidance school.
He asked me: “which course do you like to study at high school?”
I answered: “literature, to become a writer.”
He said: “No! Become a painter. Why do you want to study literature?!”
I said: “because I wanted to be a writer.”
He told me: “No! take the entrance exam for art school.”
I did it and I could pass the entrance exam for art school
so I started this profession seriously.
Another paradise like my childhood paradise.
By starting studying painting at art school I was at my paradise like before.
Mr. Mohammad Ebrahim Jafari was our master at art school.
Once I was at Asian Art Museum in New York,
suddenly I saw Mr. Hazavehi was coming down the stairs.
It was really surprising! I always wished to visit him somewhere.
It was about 7 or 8 years ago.
I introduced myself to him. He said:
“Yes, I know you. I like your paintings so much.”
I said:“No, I was your student and you were the first teacher
who gave me tripods and taught me painting with coal and large papers.
The method I never forget.”
It was interesting for him, too because he didn’t know me as his student.
Mr. Jafari played a great role in my life.
I owe this to him to become an artist and a painter.
He had a great method of teaching;
he played different roles while teaching.
One day, entering the class singing. Another day, entering the class sulking.
The other day, entering the class reconciling.
His class was a stage of performance.
Sometimes, he entered the class starting to tell a special dialogue –
he gave us different roles, as the theater scene.
He was a great teacher. He was serious about us and
it was amazing for us as the 15-year-old students at art school.
By his actions, he encouraged us and aroused our artistic feelings
every morning, we were really happy to go to the art school.
Mr. Mahmood Farshchian (Iranian famous miniaturist)
was one of my teachers taught me miniature.
I also learned graphics at art school. Mr. Bahram Alivandi (Iranian painter)
was our teacher for the course of “National Documented Designs”.
We went to the National Museum once a week
and designed from the things remained or the Relief
(a sculptural technique where the sculpted elements
remain attached to a solid background of the same material).
Then, we reconstruct them on a bowl or a plate.
A good aspect of visiting the museum was that
we felt as the adults because we didn’t have to attend only at school.
After museum we came back to school at 2 p.m. for other classes.
In the mornings, we were at the atelier,
then, we went to the Cinema every Sunday
and other classes were held in the afternoons.
We were really happy for going to the Cinema and watching artistic films.
It was a nice period of time by
reading books, watching films, and visiting galleries.
We often went to the galleries after finishing school.
The three years at art school was the important part of my education.
Passing the entrance exam of art school,
I talked with my parents about going to art school.
I was a clever student and many families at that time
wished their children study Medicine.
My mother’s family was fan of art; many of them were engaged with art
as a fun or as a job like my aunt who had studied at art school.
My father’s family was traditional but open-minded like my father.
He told me an interesting sentence: “I wished my children to be
a doctor or a painter! It is great that you want to be a painter.”
So did my mother.
It was a considerable success for me because there were many students
wished to go to the art school but their parents didn’t allow them to.
Some of our distant relatives told me:
“it was a pity that you went to art school.
You could go to the university to study
a good course to have a respectable job!”
My family really encouraged and supported me
so I could go to art school safely.
It was a lovely behavior of my parents to support us.
My sister, Shahrzad is also a painter – she is 1 year younger than me
and she studied at art school, too. So did my brother.
My another sister studied theater at the university;
she lives in Germany.
Art was an important matter for my family and also acceptable.
No body prevented us to study art.
Some of my classmates at Girl Art School are artists
and active in art like Mrs. Raana Farnood (Iranian famous painter)
she was really talented at that time –
it was clear that she would have a bright future.
My other classmates didn’t follow art seriously.
Part 02
Part Two
Studying at University and Starting Artistic Activities
I finished art school in 1350 (1971) and
entered Tehran University and graduated in Graphics in 1356 (1977).
My main major at art school was Painting
and the second was Sculpture
hence, it was really boring to study Painting again at university –
showing me the color checkered or the color circle again
would definitely have made me angry.
That’s why I decided to study Graphics; another reason was that
Engraving and Photographing were of the Graphics syllabus credits.
The techniques in these two were interesting for me.
I was the student of Graphics.
Meanwhile, I started to play some roles in a theatre band named “Piyade”
(formed in 1968, leaded by Daryoosh Farhang: Iranian director and actor)
I played the role of “Adella” (a 20-year-old girl)
at the drama of “The House of Bernarda Alba”
(a play by Federico Garcia Lorca , a Spanish playwright),
directed by Mr. Mehdi Hashemi (Iranian director and actor).
Where was it performed?
At Molavi Hall (a theater hall near Enqelab Square in Tehran).
Then, the role of “Lora” at the theatre of “The Glass Zoo”
directed by Mrs. Pari Saberi (theater director, playwright, novelist).
The third was the role of “Silvia” at the theatre of
“The Goats’ Island” directed by Mrs. Pari Saberi.
It was interesting for me to be an actress.
I was also active in staged photography and scenic design, sometimes.
I worked on some title sequence for some short films made by my friends.
I was busy by many activities. Interesting!
I engaged in some activities out of university.
I had worked at the office of Mr. Farshid Mesghali for a short time;
there, I learned many things about animation.
My works of staged photography
were printed in the newspapers or magazines.
I was full of energy and wished to gain many experiences.
All those experiences were really effective for me.
I played a role in a short film and a television play.
Another, was an animation co-working with Mr. Khosro Sinaee
(Iranian film director, screenwriter, music composer, poet, and scholar).
Thereafter, I cooperated with Mr. Sinaee for his films for 8 years as his assistant,
script supervisor, photographer, graphic designer and title sequence.
I also designed his film postures.
Suddenly, I stopped doing all those many activities
because I decided to focus on painting only.
It was difficult to do graphics and painting at the same time.
Meanwhile, I was teacher for many times
and started teaching when I was 18.
I was teacher at Design Atelier – a center
for the trainees to be prepared for the entrance exam.
After many years of working, I started to work at my atelier
and Mrs. Sinaee was my co-worker;
I was teacher there for a while.
I closed the atelier in 1368 or 1369 (1989 – 1990).
Mr. Morteza Momayez was one of my great masters at university
whom I learned many things from him especially in Graphics.
He didn’t teach in a classic method. As he was really professional
and knowledgeable in Graphics, he taught us in a unique way
to make us a professional graphic designer as himself.
My other masters were Mr. Jalal Shabahangi,
Mr. Parviz Tanavoli (Iranian sculptor, painter, scholar and art collector)
Mr. Ali Azargin (Iranian artist, painter, art consultant for the press
and publishing in the field of design and painting,
and a professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Tehran) whom I loved him much.
He had a bad accident at that time and was sick many years after.
He was so kind and hard-working in teaching.
Mr. Hanibal Alkhas (an Iranian Christian sculptor, painter and author)
was my another teacher. Mr. Hadi Shafaeyeh taught us photography
My B.A. course took 6 years instead of 4 years because
I did many tasks beside studying at university e.g. playing theatre.
So, I couldn’t attend the classes on the right time.
I was engaged with my diploma project for one year
and another one year for some credits I didn’t pass.
During those 6 years, I played many roles for theatre
and I had many friends among the theatre bands.
I also went to the theatre a lot.
I visited many theatres at Festival of Arts and Tehran Film Festival.
Some important changes were occurred in the process of theatre performances;
there was a great progress and high quality.
Comparing Cinema, there was a more open-minded
view in theatre process.
The theater actors and actresses were rather differentiated
from those in Cinema; the Cinema in Iran had common addressees.
Which years do you mean?
We believed in women rights and
acted in a way to have the equal position in the society.
We did sport, spent time with our friends to have fun,
visited many exhibitions, travelled a lot,
visited some modern and avant-garde persons coming from abroad,
consulted with our friends, and travelled with theater bands.
Once, I travelled with the Piyade theatre band to Abadan and Ahvaz
(two provinces in south of Iran) by train.
It didn’t consider as a bad or an abnormal manner because
it was part of artistic consciousness and a way to gain experiences in art.
The words we talked to each other, the views we talked about the theatre,
the book, the poem, and the music would give us much information.
Mr. Reza Derakhshani was my classmate at the university.
He is a talented artist and music performer – he plays different
music instruments and knows multi dimensions of art.
He was one of my close friends at that time.
We were colleagues at Mr. Mesghali’s office for a short time.
Another of my colleagues at Mr. Mesghali’s office was Mr. Mostafa Oji.
It was a great time of learning new things from the new people
who were coming to the office.
We learnt how to be profession in Graphics –
the matter not to be taught at university.
By working at that graphic office, I learnt how to be responsible,
how should I prepare the orders, and how to deliver it – especially on time.
My real practical colleges were out of the university!
I learnt from teaching, theatre, and greeting different people.
I had a friendship relationship with my masters naming Mr. Khosro Khorshidi.
He was the scenic and clothes designer
for the theatre of “The House of Bernarda Alba”.
At that time, the monetary affairs in theatre wasn’t important for us.
We, as the students, rehearsed for 3 months
and performed the theatre for 1 month.
Then, we divided the total money among ourselves and it was spent
for a dinner we had at the restaurant after finishing the performance.
Mr. Khorshidi did his best in designing the scene
and clothes for the theatre of “The House of Bernarda Alba”.
It was interesting that he accepted to
co-work with the young students like us.
He loved that theatre because, in his opinion,
our performance was better than the performance he had seen in Italy.
After that theatre, Mr. Khorshidi became of my good friends –
though I was a 20-year-old student and he was a middle-aged master.
I was really satisfied to be friend with him. He invited us to his house.
He was so tasteful in designing the house decoration and serving the food.
We learnt a lot in such an effective atmosphere.
Mrs. Pari Saberi was my another friend.
We are close friends since many years ago.
She took me to some special parties in which there were professional artists
and painters so I, as a young, could learn many things from them.
Another aspect was that I could attend in a serious artistic atmosphere
to gain a viewpoint toward the future. Amazing!
Part 03
Part Three
Artistic Activities after Islamic Revolution in Iran
After Revolution in Iran everything had been changed –
the situations, the criteria.
It was an important event. Anything related to the Graphics was stopped –
a Graphic culture related to the theatre, film, book and other cultural products.
Also, advertising graphic design for the goods was stopped
because of the change in criteria.
So, we could do nothing because there was
no clear pattern to obey from in animation.
Whatever I designed, they didn’t accept.
We – me and Mr. Sinaee – were in contract with
the Ministry of Education to produce animation;
also in contract with Anti-Cancer Association.
These contracts were all canceled.
Instead, we produced educational videos lasting one minute
e.g. to learn the children how to pass the zebra crossing
or learn them not to pulling the nylon bag onto their head.
Something like these, not bad of course.
In a contract with the Anti-Narcotics General Office,
I designed some etudes and they made some excuses like this:
“don’t draw syringe because of the bad learning!”
“don’t draw this because of the bad learning!”
“don’t draw that because of the bad learning!”
When I showed the poster I had designed
to the head of Anti-Narcotics General Office,
he asked me to draw the flags of some other countries rather that Iran!
I was surprised whether it is the United Nations General Assembly!
I just wanted to design a poster about
the narcotics and nothing more.
The Head was amateur and inexperienced.
So, he didn’t consider the nature of narcotics.
There were of these problems in Graphics at theta time.
There was no color or enough facilities at the printing houses.
Sometimes, our orders were delivered in a bad quality
and they didn’t accept to reform the posters.
The first decade after the Iran Revolution,
was a disaster for me to work in Graphics.
An atmosphere of male-chauvinist was dominated.
I, as a 26 young woman, took my design to the printing house to print.
I would wait there to supervise the process but they didn’t let me stand there.
I told them that I would like to control the printing
but they answered me that they might start printing at 3 a.m.!
As I received my order, I saw that they printed green instead of blue.
I objected but they answered me: “this is the final work and you should be
thankful of that! It is better than what you designed!”
During the first year after my graduation, I designed many brochures
and title sequence, without any concern or pressure.
But, after the cultural problems resulting from
the Revolution in Iran, the graphic tasks were basically stopped.
So, I had to do some things reluctantly e.g. designing the shoe box or
a logo for confectionary – the things I didn’t do even when I was a student.
It was really hard for me to stand that conditions but I had to earn money.
A similar problem was in book illustration for the children and adolescents.
Some non-professional persons would have interfered
in that subject whether in color or form of the designs.
It was another torture when they wanted to pay me!
I wasn’t enough experienced as a young graphic designer.
Once, a publisher asked me to sign under all my paintings in a book;
of course, he wasn’t qualified at all to be a publisher.
I explained him that it was not necessary to sign them all
and the signature on the book cover was enough.
I mean, the name of the painter on the book cover was “Farah Osooli”
and it was completely clear who was the graphic designer.
He told me some surprising sentences: “Look! Now you are young.
This book would be valuable after your death!
So, your signature should be under all the paintings.”
That was his impolite way of speaking. Hard times!
But I wanted to be painter and considered all those difficulties as experience.
Graphics was a means of income for me.
I didn’t play any theater role anymore.
I didn’t play any role in a film or a theatre anymore.
No theatre was played because of
the cultural problems after the Revolution in Iran.
Our hobbies, our entertainments and our lovely tasks were under changing –
we didn’t know how to cope with the new situation.
The war between Iran and Iraq had been started;
the galleries and museums were closed. No critics. No comments.
We couldn’t decide about the task we started because there were
no addressees or critics to analyze whether the task was right to do or not.
One year after the Revolution we – me, my husband Khosro, Gizela
and our children – travelled to Austria and stayed one year in Wien.
We took part in an exhibition.
I love Iran so I cannot live in another country.
I also love travelling. I travelled a lot.
Travelling to Egypt was wonderful. I fell in love with Egypt!
I travelled to Egypt when I was young. Another country I travelled was Turkey.
I learned many new things by travelling. Fantastic!
We came back Iran and started our activities: film, graphic, painting.
It was a better atmosphere than before
so we could travel as before and also do our activities.
In the recent years, the last 4 years I mean, I often travelled to America.
Half of that time I stayed in New York and the other half, in Ohayo.
There is an artistic atmosphere in New York
so I could gain interesting experiences from.
I took part in some public and private exhibitions there.
One of my paintings was bought on behalf of the Metropolitan Museum –
I’m really proud of that. It was a valuable suggestion.
Some months before we came back Iran, LACMA Museum –
Los Angeles County Museum of Art – bought another of my paintings.
There are two Departments of Islamic Art and Contemporary Islamic Art –
my painting is kept in the latter department.
Another great interesting experience.
In my opinion, New York is a hard city – full of stress and anxiety.
As New York is the top artistic city around the world,
it is full of discussion and critical viewpoints in art. Rather awful!
I don’t like such an awful atmosphere.
I love art and I entered the art school because of my idealistic vision.
At that time, we would follow the artists existed in 19th century –
the art in Impressionism, Matisse, Fauvism.
Those were dependent artists and would sacrifice themselves in art.
Little by little, I have changed my mind
i.e. the artist shouldn’t die because of poverty.
On the other hand, I don’t like the severity
or financial affairs interfering the art.
In our modern world, the curators are as the decisive agents in art.
Some centuries ago, there were some orders on behalf of the church,
the rich or the Kings. Nowadays, the curators have a similar role as them before.
I mean the curators would determine how you work,
where you hold your exhibition, whom you work with,
what you wear and how you speak. Your official instruction!
During the time we did artistic tasks in Iran,
there were some do’s-and-don’ts but we were free in the ways of doing.
For example, a curator was not allowed to determine any instruction for us.
Imagine a curator, whom we are in contract with,
makes some limitations for us – it is hard, of course.
Having stayed in New York, I understood
that I was bored of such behaviors.
I stayed in Ohayo with my mother, sister and my brother.
I drew many paintings and brought them all to Iran.
I also drew many paintings when I was in New York.
I was more motivated in New York.
When I was tired of much working, I took a walk for 4 or 5 hours –
like a child in Funfair! I looked around and analyzed the events.
In New York there are many interesting things in theater or at the galleries.
Fantastic! These are the interesting experiences during the last 4 years.
Part 04
Part Four
Job Periods
At first, I used a technique containing print, crayon, color pencil
and thinner print for painting – a surreal atmosphere.
Then, I didn’t work with print anymore and paint with crayon
and color pencil with a surreal atmosphere.
After that, I started to work on miniature.
It was a style rather completely different.
Soon after, I stopped painting in my previous style
and continue working on miniature.
I designed my first miniature for the film “Neyshaboor”.
In miniature, the background is completely white.
The figures are embossed and are important to see.
I drew some single figures based on miniature in Safavid Era
(a dynasty governed Iran from 1501 to 1736 A.C.) –
single figures of man or woman or double figures of both man and woman.
Those are also white in background with graphic atmosphere
by boarder segmentation and the figures I designed in center.
Then, I started to drew with geometric segmentation based on Gelim
(short-napped coarse carpet)
and Gabbah (woven rug with bright colors and simple tribal design).
I used the compositions in Gellim and Gabbah so the figures became smaller
and I designed them in one part of the painting.
I used airbrush to create colorful context similar to the Gellim and Gabbah.
The geometric segmentations became so simple.
Then, I designed rather complicated compositions based on the miniature
in Timurid Era (the Empire ruled Iran from 1370 to 1507 A.C.).
I designed simple segmentation based on the buildings and views of that Era
by airbrush so the figures were located in various places of my painting.
I painted in this style for many times.
In recent years, I worked in two styles.
I painted with engraving designs related to the Safavid Era
(a dynasty governed Iran from 1501 to 1736 A.C.);
there is little color and the figures are made with lines and small motives.
Some of my paintings are colorful
and their compositions are based on famous paintings.
I used beside my techniques to declare my own words.
In one of those paintings with engraving, I drew a picture of Mona Liza and
a poem by Mr. Ahmad Shamloo (Iranian poet, writer, and journalist) in addition.
In another of my painting, there is a Mona Liza in addition with a poem
by Mrs. Foroogh Farokhzad (Iranian poet and film director) –
there, Mona Liza cries in blood but she smiles.
It is for many centuries we know that Mona Liza smiles in da Vinci’s painting
and she would smile forever; it is her secret of eternity.
I matched this subject with a woman’s situation in war,
especially the women in Middle East.
In my painting, Mona Liza cries in blood but smiles.
She is feeding a baby with her breast milk.
The baby has no head and there are many rockets and missiles around them.
I used the components of engraving related to
the Safavid Era including gilding, poem, line and figure.
But the figure I used is based on the western one.
I used the deceptive lethal weapons as the gliding.
By “deceptive” I mean the weapons induce us that “war” is good.
At Safavid Era the old poems were used in the engraving
but I used the poems of Foroogh instead, around Mona Liza.
In another of my painting, I drew Mona Liza bleeding in her neck
but still smiling – a woman in the hard condition of war.
The women wish to save the present time
and they wish to keep their children safe.
As the mothers give the children to birth,
so they do not be the killer of the children.
It is the men who make the war and kill each other.
This is the subject of my paintings.
The woman’s task is to give to birth not to die or kill.
Hence, she tries to save the present time i.e. keep her children safe.
It is really hard for her to be stuck in such a tragic fearful situation of war.
The reason of her smile is to show a few hope remains i.e. it is going to be OK.
The woman in my paintings would smile for
her little child just to help him/her no to scare.
Meanwhile, she had to live in the hard condition of war.
This is my style combing the western subjects with the Iranian ancient ones.
The final name is for example “Leonardo, Foroogh and Me”
meaning that we are in a circle to say a unique word.
“My other paintings are 21 works”.
Would you mind explaining about them?
Those are based on works of some artists named
Francisco Goya Lucientes (Spanish romantic painter and printmaker),
Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (known in English as Titian,
Venetian painter during the Renaissance, considered
the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school),
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (a French Neoclassical painter).
The main subject of my paintings is
the women stuck in the condition of was or injustice.
Another one is Atlas. I believe that the women are Atlas.
We think that the men are Atlas. No! It is the women who burden the world.
I painted two Atlases. One of them is rather comic because
I drew a woman who carries her husband on her shoulders –
meant the man is the whole world of the woman –
and the two children are griping their mother’s skirt.
This painting means that the woman has to bear everything.
I worked for some years on that painting
because the anatomic proportion is rather different in miniature e.g.
the arms or the legs are shorter than usual size and the figures are different.
In a painting by Jacques-Louis David (French painter in the Neoclassical style)
named “The Intervention of the Sabine Women”,
there is a woman standing in the middle of battle field;
she tries to stop the conflict between her father on one side
and her brother on the other side – the two persons important for her.
As I copied this figure and drew a miniature painting,
the hands became rather longer because of the proportions in miniature.
I was aimed that as you see my painting,
you would immediately understand that it is based on David’s work.
I could match the design in such a way
that anybody who sees it can distinguish the basis.
I drew a collection of 70 paintings
based on the 50 odes of Hafez (Persian Poet, 1315-1390 A.C.)
one of them is painted in 7 laths and the other in 2 laths.
I exhibited the collection once at Museum Ludwig in Germany
and once here in Iran, at Imam Ali Museum. I kept many of them for myself.
I used my own point of view working on Hafez poems
The only human figure I drew in those paintings
beside the female angels was Hafez.
In Hafez’s odes, there is a beloved person,
whether the heaven or the terrestrial beloved.
Maybe the beloved is terrestrial and Hafez imagined that she is an angel
or maybe she was an angel and Hafez imagined she is terrestrial.
The angels are a kind of inspiration for Hafez.
There is an 8-lath painting in this collection based on this inspiration.
I think I am the only woman who had worked on a special line of an ode.
It took 4 years to paint this great collection
because I should design and paint them all at the same time.
I used the poems of Shamloo and Foroogh in my recent paintings.
In some of my paintings, I used the theme of Shahname (a long epic poem
written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c. 977 and 1010 CE).
I really love Shahname so I used the figures of women in that Book.
Totally, my paintings are women-based.
The myths, the old conditions, modern poems, moments of a simple life,
any idea based on an event or a dialogue or a book I’ve read
are the subjects I use to design the miniature.
There is a painting of mine named “Birth & Death”
in which these two are the reflex of each other, like a mirror.
I believe that birth and death are the same.
As we were born, our death would exist, too.
During our life, these two move alongside each other
and finally, they match at a special time.
In view of me as a looker-on, the celebration
and the funeral ceremony seems the same.
Some people would dance in a celebration because of happiness
and some do it in funeral ceremony (in Iran)
but because of sadness. A ballet! A dance.
This subject occurred to me when I was
in my grandfather’s memorial ceremony after his death.
It was held at the second storey of our house.
Up there, I looked down at our neighbor’s yard;
there was a marriage celebration.
We in our ceremony and they in their celebration were both active –
we by our sadness in our black clothes
and they by their happiness in their colorful clothes.
It was an idea for me to draw the painting of “Birth & Death”.
It took much time to change such an idea to the picture
because there are some limitations in this technique I work.
I use the ancient miniature till the miniature in Safavid Era.
I don’t use the modern miniature.
There is no special rhythm or shadow in ancient miniature
so the perspective does not be leaded to the realism.
Instead, it leads you to a free view of perspective – a different viewpoint.
For example, we can see a building in different views.
There is a parallel atmosphere in one of my paintings –
the hell and the paradise.
I could show them both in a picture. In that painting,
the Evil is a man in the paradise and the Angel is a woman in the hell.
Many asked me that why the Evil is a man and the Angel is a woman.
As an answer, I should say that we call a woman an angel in Persian
or we call a woman as a witch to show that she is a wicked.
We don’t call a woman an evil in any case.
I use the paradoxical concepts for my paintings e.g. day, night and the dusk.
I can show these three concepts all in a picture –
this paradox gives a meaning to the painting i.e. the eternity.
In another of my painting, I drew different places in a picture.
That’s why I love the ancient miniature, comparing the modern one.
There is playfulness and example world.
After the Mongols rush to Iran, the mysticism and example worlds were
added to the miniature to heal the annoyed and offended heart of the Iranian.
The Iranian would use the mere beauty
and idealism in miniature to calm down themselves.
They wished to live in that example world –
a world between this world and the heaven.
I could calm down by painting that world.
I am working on a 3-lath painting named “Siyavash”
(a major figure in Ferdowsi’s epic, the Shahnameh).
The first lath is the Fire Conquer.
The second lath is the picture of cutting his head.
The third lath is the picture of passing his wife and children from the river.
There is an angel at the right side
and an evil at the left side of these three laths looking at them.
It shows who is the winner or the loser.
The upper edge of the third lath is open to show that Rostam had killed
Soodabe because of the wicked devil action she did with Siyavash.
The first lath is the picture of Siyavash marriage.
I worked on it as a tale and I’ve made the necessary colors prepared.
The engraving was remained but I couldn’t make it complete
because of travelling to America.
I came back to Iran and now I am working on it to finish.
I decided to choose another technique to paint some pictures on the canvas.
It may happen like other events in my other paintings.
I wish to work on a video art – it is my another decision.
When I was young, I love sculpturing and
also many other artistic subjects I said goodbye to them before.
I don’t know whether I can start them again or not.
Part 05
Part Five
The Process to Create the Paintings
As I told you, I use the myths as the subjects
of my paintings because I love the myths and the poems.
Many of my paintings are based on the poets, the story inside the poems,
a matter in a book, a story I’ve read,
a dialogue with another person or a scene I’ve saw.
They all can cross my mind the subject of my paintings.
Then, I think on that subject and work on that to set.
I usually work on a set of paintings related to a set of events.
Those engravings, for example, are based on the war and
other problems in the Middle East – the subject I think on the most.
I have a notebook in which I wrote my ideas
and draw a related figure with 4 lines.
Where ever I go, I have that notebook
or a piece of paper to write in my main idea.
After a while, I have a set of ideas to work on.
I sit at my table and start to draw one of them.
Then, I think on my goal – what I wish to say by that drawing.
Imagine the Prometheus (the Titan god of fire in Greek myth) is my subject.
Prometheus stole the fire and gave it to the humanity as the civilization.
Then, he was punished; a bird would eat his liver and his liver would
be created again and that bird would eat it again; some story like this.
The elements in this story include
fire, Prometheus, that bird and a sad atmosphere.
I think how to draw this sad story whether
Prometheus is lying or it seen under domination.
These elements help me how to draw and where to
paint them in the final painting and how to set the segmentation.
I drew Prometheus for the paintings with white background.
Let’s talk about the composition of paintings about Hafez.
Hafez’s odes inspired me a kind of rhythm
and special music that leaded me to its specific composition.
I painted based on unique music of each ode I could hear in my mind –
some of them simple and slow and some other rather complicated.
So, I did the segmentation of Hafez’s paintings
based on the rhythm inside the odes.
Then I drew the figures one by one
and I changed them many times to reach my ideal result.
I drew the figures on a parchment paper.
I drew many times to have my ideal figure.
Then, I drew the final figure on the paper with total segmentation.
After that, I set the places of tree, the sky and the nature view.
I set everything before, even a branch of tree
and from each side of the paper.
Then, I used the black for background.
Next, I measured on the cardboard – exactly in millimeter.
That was really hard.
After the exact measurement, I set the segmentation
and copied the drawings and figures.
Then, I stuck the masks.
Next, I made the colors in the big glasses,
maybe 40 colors at the same time.
I made the airbrush at my atelier.
Then I started to use airbrush on the paper and put a net on that.
I took away the net and put another net on and colored again.
I stuck different masks, even 50 ones.
Maybe I make 20 paintings in a process.
Despite working 8 to 10 hours a day, I cannot work on more than
22 paintings in a year – except Fridays and other holidays.
The next step is to color some parts by hand, not by airbrush.
Having finished this step, I put them in the drawer.
After that, I bring them out one by one and draw
the details including motives, flowers, bushes, and trees.
The final step is to color the faces for all the prepared paintings.
So, I would have a set of paintings during a year.
I cannot do the painting extemporaneously.
The extemporaneous part of my work is the colors.
I mean, the color governs me: it tells me where to paint that color.
If I want to use yellow, suddenly I may take red as the final color to paint.
Interesting! The colors govern me.
I may use purple for the sky
but three or four kinds of purple I make to use.
Then, I decide extemporaneously to put the nets together or one by one.
The final work is extemporaneous.
Another extemporaneous part of my work is
to select the motives for the clothes.
The motives are repeated but they are exactly drawn.
The order of drawing is the motives,
the clothes, the views, and the faces in the end.
As we don’t live in the cave, so everything around would affect us.
One day I may feel bad so
the color I use on that day may become rather darker.
My prepared colors are different in a cycle of time.
It may take 2 months to use airbrush, 7 to 10 hours daily.
I start the painting 9 a.m. till 10 p.m.
Once, I got palpitation and I had to go to the hospital;
a very bad condition.
It was because of the gouache dust –
we shouldn’t use airbrush for gouache so the heavy dust flows in the air.
Don’t you wear the mask?
I didn’t wear mask for many years ago but I wear it in recent years.
My skin and eyes are covered with the dust of gouache.
I always use gouache on the hard cardboard,
on the thinner cardboard or on the replica cardboard.
Don’t you work on the canvas?
I use acrylic paint on the canvas for my technique in engraving.
The hard part of my work is that I should be careful
not to spoil my painting because I cannot repair it.
I have to put the painting away in case of spoiling.
Drawing the faces are really problematic.
I draw a line for the nose or two lines for the eyes.
It is the last step to keep the color of face clean.
I always have the stress that a drop of water may spill on my
final painting or my finger may touch it or anything happens.
It is really difficult to keep my paintings safe and clean.
The first decade after the Revolution in Iran was a disaster for the artists
because we couldn’t find the necessary materials e.g. the paper or the color.
Once, I went to a shop to buy some papers.
Surprisingly, there were many papers so I bought them all;
different problems during different periods of time.
The most important problem for us as the artists
is to be healthy physically to continue working.
Because of working a lot during the past years, we have
some physical problems in our neck, back, and eyes – all the artists.
It is for 35 years that I have to sit like this to draw
or another artist have to stand to work.
Another artist may have allergy to the chemical colors.
I have severe allergy to the thinner.
It irritates my eyes; making my eyes red and watery.
It was really hard for me when I worked with thinner.
All the artists have such problems.
Part 06
Part Six
The Artist View Toward Herself
What would you do if you weren’t a painter?
There are many jobs I wished to do e.g. lawyer, sociologist,
psychoanalyst, psychiatrist… anything related to the Human Sciences.
My first choice as a job was a writer rather than painter.
I mean, I wished to do any task related to the human beings.
The way was paved for me to become an artist.
Sometimes, I was in a hard condition but I never encountered a block.
To become an artist or reach the success in any field requires a magic.
There are many talented persons who studied the art
and were in a good condition to be an artist
but s/he couldn’t become an artist
e.g. many of my classmates at art school and at university.
I am happy and thankful that the magic had being happened for me.
I did my best to become an artist, learn technique,
gain more knowledge and have a good and exact worldview.
After graduation, I didn’t know whether I would be an artist in future or not.
I remember that I painted something but it wasn’t the right thing I wanted.
It is a different condition when you are student.
At university, the students would make some excuses
e.g. I wanted to do that but the master didn’t allow me.
I could present a better job incase others didn’t stop me –
we lay at other’s door.
When you sit at your table in the atelier, it is you and your paper in front;
you are alone and nobody can bother or stop you – perfect freedom!
You can do whatever you want. That perfect freedom is
really scaring and it is the time when the magic happens.
I remember that I painted something but it wasn’t the right thing I wanted.
I thought that I couldn’t do anything new
because others may have done that before.
So, it is meaningless that I copy the others.
Then, I teared my papers, went out wandering around, crying.
I came back to my atelier and started to draw again.
I wished to present a new thing others haven’t done before.
As painting is a unique process that nobody can interfere,
so it was hard for me to sit alone, draw and paint.
Necessary to say that it is a valuable point
that nobody can interfere or discourage your creativity.
As I was sociable, it was difficult for me to be alone to work.
While playing roles in theater, I had a long journey
with others like a revelation – that’s why I loved theater.
It was bothering for me to be alone to paint.
This is why I did Graphics or other various tasks – at that time
I could visit some people, gained enough energy and came back home.
It is not in my personality to sit alone to work.
Sometimes, I may stay at home for10 days, even not to go to the yard.
At any time, I may go out to visit some people
and gain energy to become happy.
I’m not a nature lover. Sometime, some of my friends play me a trick and say:
“if you want to bother Farah, take her to the nature! No human, just view!”
it is really disgusting for me and wish to come back home.
On the other side, I love to be in an iron woods named New York,
a place of madness, amazement, excitement and human activities!
I love them all esp. the human being.
When I was a child, I was too optimistic
and I thought whatever I want will happen.
I always feel that I can do everything.
I did some sports too e.g. swimming, ping-pong and cycling.
The team sports also helped me to be
well-determined to do everything I wish.
I always had such a viewpoint that nothing would stop me
and I can do whatever I decided.
Then, many opportunities were presented to me
e.g. those painting competitions I took part.
Even those competitions were fun for me’ I mean,
I didn’t have any stress for them.
I just wanted to take part, whether I win or not.
It was the same for me about the exams, whether pass or not.
Having entered art school, I passed years full of joy – when I was 15 to 18.
And then easy entering the university and the good years of studying.
The main challenge I encountered was the time after graduation.
At that time, I thought about the method I wanted to continue, the way how
to be experienced in technique and the way how to present my viewpoint.
The idea in your mind should be processed by technique
to be presented as well as possible; this is the difficult process.
The first decade after the Revolution in Iran was really hard for the artists
because of changing in the criteria for visual arts;
I couldn’t cope with the new criteria. So hard!
Totally speaking, my carrier life wasn’t suffering for me
and I didn’t encounter any block.
My parents always encouraged me, I could cope with the process
and I was physically healthy enough to continue. Great!
I always remember my childhood – a great support for me.
I’m basically hopeful and optimistic and I think it roots in my childhood.
I love the people and trust them.
My great treasure is the human being,
my friends, my family and my relatives.
I didn’t keep company with my far relatives.
I selected the interesting relatives to company.
I have many friends around the world –
it provides me confidence because I never feel alone.
This confidence roots in my childhood, too
because I always have confidence in my family.
When I was at art school or at university, I preferred expressionism.
The taste would change gradually.
I liked Georges Henri Rouault works too much.
I painted some based on his technique.
Henri Matisse, Marc Chagall, Salvador Dali.
Kitagawa Utamaro and Katsushika Hokusai, Japanese Painters.
After all, there were some unknown Korean, Japanese and
Chinese painters whom I liked their techniques and different viewpoints.
There are some other contemporary artists, interesting.
At a special time, I changed my technique based on Iran Art because
those paintings drawn based on Iran Art were really great for me
esp. the paintings by Reza Abbasi (Iranian miniaturist of the Isfahan
School during the later Safavid period)
and Kamal-e-Din Behzad (Persian painter and head of the royal ateliers
in Herat and Tabriz during the late Timurid and early Safavid Persian periods).
The art in Safavid and Timurid period was really great –
I really appreciate the painting techniques used in these two periods.
Da Vinci and Michelangelo are the only two great painters
loved by everybody and impressed the human being.
Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (Italian Jewish painter and sculptor)
was another painter I was interested in.
There are many other painters whom I interested in.
At the recent times I was stayed in Florida,
I visited an exhibition of paintings for Picasso and Dali. So nice!
I could see some paintings drawn by these two
that I’ve never have seen them before.
Looking at any painting, I can learn many new things.
There are some fine paintings by Reza Abbasi which I love too much!
Some miniatures by him are kept in Metropolitan Museum.
I often looked at them for a long time. Lovely!
In recent years, I try to use technique of western painters e.g.
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes
(Spanish romantic painter and printmaker);
I always loved his technique.
Poetry makes a great part of my life.
I would read poems since I was 12 or 13.
At school, they taught us poetry in a way that we didn’t like it.
I was 13 that Forough (Iranian female poet) was dead.
One of my classmates at literature class was so wise – she was top.
She asked our literature teacher: “did you hear Forough is dead?”
My classmate knew the news but I didn’t know.
Our teacher answered:
“yes, she died and eradicated his impurity from our world!”
I was really surprised of his words.
How a literature teacher can judge a poet in this way?
I bought the poems book by Forough.
There was no special library for the children and youths
at that time so I read whatever I could buy.
I read her poems. Some matters I didn’t understand –
it is hard for a 13- or 14-year-old girl to understand Forough’s poems.
But I was encouraged to know Forough.
That sentence by my literature teacher was
really impressed me to know Forough!
If it was an encouraging sentence, it could be that much impressive.
Forough became as my familiar spirit.
When I was 16, I could understand
Forough’s poems well so I loved her.
At that time, I would read the classic poems too
e.g. poems by Hafez, Mowlānā, Attar, Khayyam, and Sa’adi.
The contemporary poems like Mr. Sohrab Sepehri, Mr. Ahmad Shamloo
and Mrs. Forough Farrokhzad are also my favorite poems.
Mrs. Simin Behbahani (prominent Iranian contemporary poet,
lyricist and activist) has done something new for Iranian Ode.
There are many other poets I cannot remember them all.
I would read all the contemporary poems.
I always put some poetry books on the table I work on.
Poetry plays a great role in my life.
I forget about being a writer but the story-telling mood
I use in my paintings is based on my wish to be a writer.
I never like the abstract art or the mere art
because I always wanted to tell a story in my paintings.
It is the same as the game I played when I was a child –
drawing some paintings and making a story by them.
The different tasks I did – photography, playing theater, making animation –
were effective for me to use unique technique.
My keys of success were to love the Art and to be active and perseverance.
Being an artist is not just to work with your hand. Instead, you should study
books, watch everything carefully, and understand the contemporary art.
A person who just work with his/her hand in art,
would never become an artist.
Part 07
I remember the first solo exhibition I held
I had worked on a series for the film Neishabour by Khosrow Sinaei
That old spaces were in the form of miniatures
Like the Mongol invasion or various other attacks or fires or disasters that befell the city
I worked those people in miniature
These were the things I added to this collection, in addition to a number of other works
We set up an exhibition in our house and some people came
And by the way, they bought my works and they liked them very much
And it was a very strange experience for me
The second exhibition I had was also solo
at the house of the German embassy press advisor
It was customary at that time that we would hold an exhibition during these consultations
That is, we would take a space, put a projector and hang the artworks
We would create a gallery space, we would invite some people
And we had private exhibition
The situation was difficult, it was bombing
Despite all this, it was a strange exhibition
The exhibition lasted four days, within three days
All the works in the exhibition went on sale and 30 of my works all went together
And that experience was never repeated because for every painter
It may just happen just once that all the paintings sell out
My first official solo exhibition will be my third solo exhibition
Which was held at the newly opened Seyhoun Gallery, which was one of the first
Because before that, the library placed exhibitions next to books and in its own space
The museum was still not doing anything like that
And only Mr. Momayez held a group graphic exhibition at the museum in 1965
I had a poster and a children’s book illustration at that exhibition
Then little by little, the galleries opened and we seriously entered the field of professional activity
I mean, we worked, but the presentation was not like that
But it is interesting to say that in all the times I worked, from the very beginning
I started working, there were always people who would come and buy my work
That is, with all the strange and difficult conditions that existed
And that the works did not have an external reflection, but my works were always sold
Sometimes ordinary people, that is, our ordinary spectators, express their feelings
After all, you know, when the work is seen in relation to the viewer and yourself
They see angles in your work that you yourself did not want to say at all
Then you will see that this is also in your work, this is the interesting part
One of my anxieties and nightmares is the transportation of my work
Because sometimes they don’t pay attention here at customs
For example, they opened the box and saw the inside and then put it out
Then it rained in the box and the glass frame stuck to my work
I had an exhibition in Beirut, maybe about 7, 8 of my works
just stuck to the glass and gave it back to me
I had an exhibition in China and I gave an 8-piece work as a single work
But 4 of them were washed like this and handed over to me
Many of these things have happened to me
Metropolitan Museum, many years ago
Maybe about 10, 12 years ago on the timeline of his website
Even now, if you go and search, you will see that from every country
For example, five people chose an artist and left their work there
At that time he was the researcher and curator
The Islamic art department worked there and still works
They gave me a letter and asked the Museum of Contemporary Art for a photo of my work
To put on their website as an Iranian artist
I think it’s the work of Mr. Ehsaei, Mr. Tanavoli and a few other artists
For example, two of them are outside Iran
They posted a photo of my work and then, while I was in New York, sent me an email
And they said we want to buy work from you
Please email us what you have and can give us
I also emailed them things
They said that we liked all of them, and there were, for example, 10 works from Hafez’s collection.
They said where are the original works for us to come and see
I said that the originals are in Iran
They said they could not buy these from you because of the sanctions, they were very upset
They said we want to buy work from you but we can not
Then someone who was a collector of my work and had some of my work in New York
I went to him and we were having coffee when I told him what happened to me
The Metropolitan Museum wanted my works
But I said that they are in Iran
He said that it is very unfair, everyone wishes for their works to go to the Metropolitan Museum
He said that I would sell my work to the museum and buy another one from you
I said that you liked this job that you bought it
He said no, however, this is not right
We informed the Metropolitan Museum, and they said
we completely agree and there is no problem
My friend contacted the museum and sold the work to them
I was told by the museum that even if you painted this work in Iran
We can not buy it from you
This means that you can not sell the work as long as you have used Iranian material
When I went to allow my work to be published in any way they wanted
The lady who came to take me to sign the contract
emphasized that we are very happy that you did not paint this work in Iran
In fact, she reminded me that even if I did painting in Iran
I will say at one point that everything will fall apart again
He said that we are very happy that this work came into our collection
And the solution was found and from such professions
I was told that if we wanted to do this, for example, in the form of a postcard, a book
or anything else we must have your permission
It is very interesting that I have seen my work many, many times
for example, they published in a newspaper or magazine
When I protested to them, they said that you should be happy that
We printed your work, which means we had to give them something
Suddenly, someone took my job and
It was completely laid out to promote the carpet or something
It was in one of the newspapers, maybe Kayhan English or something
I finally found their number and called
I said who printed this here? My job is not to promote carpets
It’s not right, why did you do that?
I said I want to be with the CEO or someone who
allowed himself to do that
they gave the to eachother and finally they did not answer me
Apart from the Lakma Museum and the Metropolitan Museum, there is the Dewey Institute in Delhi, which is a very interesting institution.
And put on a large exhibition of works by Iranian artists
And bought some for the job fair and borrowed some
Bought two of my works, one from Hafez collection and one from engraving collection
The Tropen Museum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, is an anthropological museum
Ludwig Museum in Koblen, Germany
Museum of Contemporary Art, Quran Museum, Pasargad Museum
And I think these are my works as well
Soho was 20 galleries created by artists themselves
They were feminist artists
Where?
At Chelsea in New York City
They chose my work themselves
again, There were 9 female artists from different places
For example, from Bangladesh, Lebanon, Israel, Iran, Jordan and many other places
It’s very difficult to sell there
There you have to work with a certain gallery
Or have a specific sales intermediary
Like here we sat in the studio and
They call us and come to buy our works
Because I do not have the fame that I have in Iran there
They loved my work, when they saw my work
It was highly valued as a professional job
Or, for example, those who decided to buy work from me at the Metropolitan Museum
They knew about my work, or the Lakma Museum, for example
Museums working on Middle Eastern art
They know about artists like us
Or some intermediaries or curators
But not everyone has this knowledge
The price of my work is in a range that no one buys them
just for their heart
So he has to take an approach and make a decision
To add this to his collection or not
Everyone buys when the price is the same
For example, Iranians buy, foreigners buy, and they may like to work.
From one price more they have to think about why I want to buy this
I had an exhibition in New Jersey, I think Newark in New York State
I worked on a project there, which was an interesting project
The Brutsky Printing Center selected five women from the Middle East
There is a center at Radex University set up by Ms. Brutsky
Which is very well equipped and works on various projects
He had selected five women from the Middle East, each from a different country
From Arab countries, Iran and various other places
That these artists went and stayed there for 2 weeks
That is, artists from the Middle East who either lived or traveled in the West.
They chose me to go and work with them on this project
I went there for two weeks, they gave me an apartment and provided the conditions
And I was in charge of the printing studio there
I could finish a job there with any printing technique I wanted
What I did was combine digital printing and silk screen
We printed ten and gave them all
Because they had to bear all the expenses
The cost of accommodation, ticket and the same amount they gave us to go there
It was a very good experience, then we had a talk for the students and
Then there was the exhibition of works where students would come and see what we were doing
My audience can be a wide range
Also people who are interested in traditional art
And people who are interested in modern art
I often have fans in my youth who are interesting to me
And also from the older generation
The last exhibition I had was at the Sweet Gallery in New York
I exhibited from this collection of engravings
Which coincided with a program that focused on the Middle East or Asia as a whole
And focused galleries of Asian artists
The feedback was great because it’s a very elaborate
and aesthetic technique with a disturbing meaning
This contradiction bothered many a lot
For example, an Iranian gentleman came and said that I cried so much, I knocked in front of these works
An American gentleman came and said why did you show such bad things so beautifully
He was angry and stubborn
And so do different opinions from different people
You know, each job has different references
It has a reference to Western art, it has poetry, and it has its gildings
The first time they look, they start with a smile and it looks like it’s going to happen
They enjoy it a lot, but then all of a sudden these things prevent them from enjoying it
Then they get angry about why it happened like this, why we messed up
It was not supposed to be like that at all
But no, the reaction was very good overall
Part 08
In the old miniatures, the spaces are always full, that is, the Iranians wouldn’t leave any empty space
at that time, there was even an idea that demons might occupy the empty space
And for a thousand and one other reasons, the spaces are full
In Western paintings, empty spaces play a very big role
That is, they are very important
As someone who painted in a Western way
I had learned to have those empty spaces in my work
Then when I went to the miniature, I thought that
wherever I want, I can bring some empty space
Bring them to the geometric division and, for example, work with the airbrush
That is, I have the right to choose any tool I want
Because I did not want to be a miniature, I just wanted to take a miniature
To make my work cut bigger, the miniature cuts are usually very small
Some of my works are very large, for example in dimensions of 75 by 110 cm
Sometimes I put four pieces together, and the dimensions of
the work are 2 meters multiply 75 centimeters.
The dimensions of my work are definitely influenced by Western paintings
It means not to confine myself in a small and closed space
And the point of view in terms of concepts, for example, I am one of the painters
that maybe 95% of my work is related to women
We have women in the old miniature, but I put women in different situations
Or, for example, I worked on myths like the myth of Prometheus or the myth of Leda and the Swan
which many Western artists like Da Vinci did
Both conceptually, technically and through the tools I used
All of this is because I have already learned Western painting
In Western painting we see the whole
That is, we see a general composition and then go into detail
Many times in the miniatures they went from the part to the whole
That I design the composition of my work first, that is, when I have an idea
Based on that, I think, well, how do I do this division on the page?
First I do those divisions and then I bring my figures
I work like I have a geometric abstract, I look like this many times
I was also dissatisfied until the third exhibition, which was my first solo exhibition at Seyhoun Gallery
Even in the second exhibition where my works were sold that way
I still thought that what I wanted was not done, that is, I wanted to do other things.
I was more involved with the technique at the time, I always wanted to see what I could achieve.
My technique to be good, do it right, for example, my penmanship is good
Or I can perform the space I get from the miniature well
At the same time, I mostly thought that this was not the only thing I wanted to say
It’s a bit more than that
For example, I have a work from the same period of Seyhoun Gallery, there is an angel of justice
In the same technique where the back space was white
As far as we know, the angel of justice has closed his eyes
He has a sword in one hand and a scale in the other
The angel of justice I worked for was open-minded
There was a sword in one hand, and the scales were out of the frame
I mean, I was working on things like that, but I was still thinking
which I still want to express stronger
My technique and expression get closer together
Maybe, for example, an exhibition I put in a classic gallery
The same period I started working with airbrushes
There I felt I was approaching the space I was thinking about
I made some differences in technique
And thematically, I can move on to different topics
At the beginning of my work, I focused on the spaces of the Safavid period
Then I went to the Timurid period and again to some extent now I have returned to Safavid
Over time, as I worked on the miniature, I started from scratch
You see my past work like my last year
There have been many differences in different periods with my recent works
We see a lot of scary news on TV or on the Internet
We are not judges, we are not lawyers or psychoanalysts
We see very bad scenes, the killing of people, the helplessness of people
We suffer from this, then we try to judge
Who is to blame, who did this and why
We become judges, we become interrogators, we become prosecutors
But we still do not get results
These news hurts us a lot, you know, at one time we only heard that there was a war in Vietnam
A picture of Vietnam shook the world
Now we see thousands of photos a day and we become indifferent
In the last series of my work, for example, when I write a poem
Sometimes a word like a horrible word or killing
I may repeat this around the box
I mean, killing has become a motif, it means we have nothing to do with its meaning at all
We just hear, we hear from this ear, it comes out of that ear
But we are people who suffer, get depressed and suffer
For all this scary information we get and we do not know what to do with it
They often decorate the war and present it to us as something extraordinary.
Or they decorate a very bad concept and present it to us as a very good concept.
In what I did and in the gilding that I did
I want to say that good gilding in the old days was to beautify the work
For example, when I worked on these rockets, scissors, knives or hafters
I made these in a way that you first think is decorative
And you see how beautiful it is, well, then suddenly you see that it is not
This is a very bad thing, this is a knife or a gun
I mean, a lot of times we see something first
which seems to be very good, very beautiful and that is absolutely true
Then we will see that no! This is a bad thing and it just looks good to us
Because it is presented beautifully, but its meaning is not beautiful at all
Many countries and governments, in many parts of the world, are doing the same thing to their people
And then the situation in the Middle East is very painful
That is, we can not be indifferent to this story
That is, we think it does not concern us and that this is happening in, for example, Syria or Iraq
It is common to hear, for example, that 70 people were killed by a bomb blast
But we are not used to these conditions
These were works that were influenced by these spaces that really hurt.
And with a single stanza or a single verse of poems by Shamloo or Forough that
I brought in my works, I actually said these things
Somehow I wanted to share that inner pain with others
Part 09
We got married in 1985
The most important day of my life was the moment my son was born, my first child
This line of Hafez’s poems was constantly repeated in my mind
“I have been free since the day I became imprisoned by you.”
It was a strange feeling, I wanted to have a child since I was 4 years old
I mean, I loved being a mother and I thought about it all my life
As an adventurer, I wanted to travel
and not stop at once and do a work of art
But I had a very strong force of maternal instinct that I was the mother of almost everyone
I mean, I was also the mother of my siblings, I was also the mother of my friends
I dreamed of having a child
I knew having children was a huge responsibility
And life changes in a different way
Life is two different things for someone who has or does not have children
Especially for women, when they want to have children and at the same time they want to do
a very serious professional job they know life has to be divided and how hard it is
Another thing happened to me, that I can put it aside art and say both
are very valuable creativity that can be learned from as a mother
And as someone who creates and creates new work
There are still many lessons to be learned
These two (being a mother and being an artist) have always been valuable to me
and I never wanted to give up on kids to do art
From my experiences with my children, for example, I used to make sculpting dough
and they would order whatever they wanted from me
They would sit next to me and tell me to make a dragon and I would make it.
they said, “Make Rustam now, make other things now”
Then they would play with them, and then they would get bored again
They ruined them and gave me the dough to make the next things
When I was a child, we had a midwife. We were a very beautiful old woman like in fairy tales
that we were in love with him, I was one of his lovers that I was always looking for
He had taught us how to cut figures out of paper
Let’s put them on the tray and on the tray and let the figures dance
And I made this for my kids
I made all kinds of figures
I would put them on a big tray, hit them on the tray and these figures would dance.
Incidentally, my daughter sent me a message on Viber a few days ago, and I always remember that moment.
That you put these on your tray and your face that you were so happy
that you were making us happy and I will not forget those figures who danced
These were experiences between art, childbearing and motherhood
And they were really enjoyable for me
Or, for example, when the children were very young,
I’d simplify the stories of the Shahnameh and explained it to them
Or the plays that I liked very much, for example, Adam is Adam by Bertolt Brecht
I summarized and defined them, myths and much more
And these were all fun games
Now I think maybe art helped me a big part
to have this behavior with children
One of the most important influences of art was on the upbringing of my children because the children, for example, came to the studio.
First, they learned very well that, for example, it is a respectable table or chair
And when their mother works, her hands should not be crossed, well, they were very small
Then they came to the studio, my works also have a narrative visual mode
They came and stood in front of these things and looked carefully
And they said what is the name of this beautiful painting, or, for example, its story
And I described for them and we had a lot of fun together in the studio
Between painting and my life, I wanted to be a good mother, I wanted to
do my job well in this community, I wanted everyone to be happy that I was a painter
I remember once my son was in the second grade of elementary school and he brought a form
that I had to fill out and then he told me that you should write your job
I said that I write well as a housewife, I wanted to tease him
He said no, you are not a housewife, I said why I am a housewife anymore, I am always at home
He said no, you are always at home but you work in a studio
I said it’s okay to work, but I’m a housewife
He started crying, he said you are a painter, you should write that you are a painter, I said what difference does it make to you
He said it was very different, I was a painter and he was very happy that I was a painter
It was a test for me to see that my son likes me being a painter
Or he wanted his mother to be different
I wanted to be sure, I wanted not to lose anyone’s rights here
I will not destroy anything
And let everyone enjoy this great celebration of life that I share with them
And let the others enjoy this creativity that has been given to me as a gift
Although I was born in Zanjan, I love Tehran
I love Tehran, this monster city
I paint, I read books, I socialize
Do you also teach?
No, but a lot of times what I did and still do is
Arrange an exhibition to be the director of the exhibition, or to be a judge
I like this, I accept the judge position or secretary of an exhibition because this
is a situation where I see a lot of things that have happened recently in this country
Young people, veterans,
and I enjoy seeing them and knowing them
We formed Dena in 2001 and our goal
was to have three generations of female painters together
This group was founded by Gizla and I and we invited veteran friends and younger friends
and they came and participated in this group
We chose completely different techniques, we chose different generations
We have been with the Dena Group since its inception, although we have not yet announced our dissolution
and we still have our website, we held about 30 exhibitions
We held exhibitions on almost every continent, and we wanted to bring in
a kind ofIranian female artist because out of Iran
sometimes there is a misconception, like the existence of people like us
was not known there at all, especially in those years
And when they came and saw our work as female painters, they told us
we did not think at all that Iran has a male painter, let alone a female painter
So many good and strong painters
And in addition to these exhibitions, we held workshops that were very important
For example, with immigrant women in Paris, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah
The last one, which was performed in a festival mode, really worked, it took 6 months
and I was the group manager from start to finish
It took a long time and we worked very hard, it was both film and theater, music
photography, sculpture and painting and all female artists and I think it was in 2007
I have always wanted us to go to exhibitions in other cities as well
Because I thought I was a living model as a woman
It shows more than any other word that in different generations
When a woman is working for 30, 35 years
This is a sign that it can be done under any circumstances
We would definitely travel ourselves, we would also have a question and answer session
Of course, this is not usually the case in painting, for example, it happens in cinema and theater, but not in painting
These were my experiences with theater and cinema
and I wanted to be in painting too
We would go there, sit down and ask questions of us
For example, young art students would come and tell us that we had found hope
So if we try, we can if we keep going
Because many people think that when a woman studies art
after she gets married, she can no longer continue her art
And if she can, she can not continue after having children
If she has two children, she can not continue at all
When these women saw live that this is not the case and can continue
We could have created this hope in the hearts of these people
We held exhibitions in Rafsanjan, Zanjan, Yazd and Isfahan
Later in those exhibitions, we invited guest artists
From young artists and veteran artists, to honor your veterans
and the introduction of young artists, all of which had very good results
We were an independent group that held a lot of exhibitions
We had exhibitions in China, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Finland and Norway
I sat and watched these distances all the time
For example, I was planning an exhibition of works by Dutch lambs
And then Finland and then Norway, in a cost-effective way
In terms of sending works and in terms of controlling everything
And our group was a very good group, most of whom knew one language
For example, one knew French, one German and one English
In these exhibitions that we held outside of Iran and two or three of us, for example, if he left
We interviewed, stayed in exhibitions and answered questions.
We also held very good exhibitions in very good places
Dena was a very successful group and we formed this group very humanely and friendly
And then things happened gradually, and some members of our group either left or died
or they got sick, and finally something happened that reduced our numbers
We started with 12 people and we reached 7 people and we named our group Dena
To respect nature, Dena is a humble peak
And Dena is a female name
With this vision, we formed this group and worked
Part 10
I have no idea what people who do not paint do
That is, I tell myself everything that happens all the time
Oh, I’m going to pain this, now I’m going to fix it
Then when I sleep at night, like a kid with his toys in the closet
And unfortunately it’s night and she has to sleep, I think
about getting to the morning sooner so I can paint again
For me, painting is like chanting, like worship, like relief
When I am happy I like to work, when I am sad I like to work
That means I like to work anyway and I feel better every time I work
We feel better because we picture our imaginary world
We are dealing with our inner self and what we want
Many ask me if you do not want to retire
I feel very bad when they say this to me
I say that I wish to work until the last moment of my life
And to die at my desk at all, that is, I love to work so much
But for some, like pounding water in a mortar may be pointless
For example, now if we draw more or less four paintings or not at all, what happens?
It happens to myself that something is happening
I think this is an instinct like the instinct to dance
And like so much else, how can it end?
Humans have been painting since the time they lived in the cave
I think it makes sense, for example, a three-year-old when he goes to the beach
A stick you see on it starts painting on the sand
This is a very strong instinct
That’s how I started working with miniatures
I went and looked at the works of Otamaro Kitagawa, a brilliant Japanese artist
He gave me some courage, for example, I saw that the hands worked like this
Look at the figure from another angle
Or, for example, he brought the takfigors like this or he brought the everyday atmosphere in his work
I realized that I could not be completely dependent on those figures that were designed in the past.
This in itself helped me a lot
Then I started doing things periodically
For example, I was studying a history course, I was studying a geography course in Iran
Then I looked to see in poetry, music, history, geography and miniatures and what are
all these, what thread connects them together, like pearls in a thread?
Then I took a look at Japanese art, architecture, floriculture, and sports
And I saw that these are all somehow related
Painting, for example, can sometimes happen very quickly
The same thing can happen with karate
For example, in flower arrangements, they create space with a flower and a leaf
For example, in architecture, there is a secluded space and a vase is just there
Then I saw that these are all related, I looked at ours
I saw that ours are very related and by the way, they are not lonely at all
That is, our architecture is twisted and nested
For example, look at Alighapoo and what a delicate and tortuous space it is
How much space does our music create to reach a certain point?
Then I saw that, for example, something had happened in our art in connection with our history and geography
We actually used art against history and geography, that is, because of oppressive rulers and
geography that was sometimes cruel to us, we came to create beauty
Considering that Iran is one of the countries that has been very strong in handicrafts
That is, its applied art was very valuable and beautiful
In places where there are no gardens or forests at all
We came to bring color, form and nature
Just as we, as Iranians, are not frank people
And when we want to say something to someone and if we want to say no
We compliment and say different things so much that it’s the other person
would not understand that we are saying no, and he may even think that we are saying yes
Or, for example, when you go to a city, you see that all the walls are thatched
And there is a depressing atmosphere that is not news at all in that city and there is no outside life
Then suddenly you enter a garden through the same thatched wall, suddenly it opens into a paradise
Its walls are like that, but you have a paradise
Again, I compare it to humble people who are full of knowledge
But when you see them, it does not seem to be the case at first
Like Western architecture that shows itself or, for example, the Palace of Versailles that shows itself that way
it reminds us a lot that I am a palace and so on and so forth
Their people may also be very outspoken about their abilities
However, these are all cultural differences
They show themselves in the same way and in the same place in art
It is not that art works separately, it is not possible for art to be separate
from the geography and history and other social events of a country
With the style of painting that I have, which is very much related to traditional Iranian art
or Iranian miniature art, with Iranian literature and poetry
It’s very important for my type of painting, because you can not do it in the abstract
go work in a space without getting something of that space
Not everything can be from within, not everything happens inside
It must be something from the outside, like a sentence, a look, a person, a conversation or a picture
All of these can create an idea in your mind
And if a collection starts in your mind, it may start with a simple sentence
I think the place is very important, of course, wherever you stay, after a while
they have to make their impressions, take their effects and give them back
Now some people can not, that is, because they do not get that effect, they can not create.
When an artist migrates, you suddenly see that his creativity is over.
Sometimes it happens, his creativity ends
I had studied various disciplines myself and then learned the miniature technique
In this way I was able to create a method for myself
If I had not read any of them, for example, I would not have learned graphics or animation.
Or I had not read Western art at all, I was looking at it from another angle.
I wanted, for example, to create courses for students
so they’d learn miniature techniques, Western art and other techniques.
For example, they took photographs or did other things
to get out of that closed state of expression and now if they want to find a solution
I really do not know what the solution is, I just always think it’s a shame
That when we have such a long history in art, we let it disappear
Strangely when I started working this way
Almost everyone opposed me, my former professors, my friends and, in short, everyone
I was told it was unlikely from me, it was upsetting, and they wouldn’t be that
upset if it was someone else, why are you doing this?
How could you have decided to take this calamity upon yourself?
Bring this disaster to your work
Because they also thought it was a dead end
It took years for some to accept that this was not a dead end
Some people said why put this artist’s work in the painting biennial at all
We have to leave this to the miniaturists
And the miniaturists used to say, “Let her be, when she uses airbrushes,
it make her job very easy, while using the airbrush is a very hard part for me
And they said that he is not a miniature at all, this has taken away the reputation of a miniature
I was always under pressure in the middle, but most of the painters accepted me, myself
I consider myself a painter because one day I may decide to work on a two-meter canvas
As a result, I do not want to be a miniaturist who must be subject to certain rules
But I know very well that I am dealing with a miniature structure, that is, any change
I make in miniature, I make this change from within its own structure
Do you have a question for yourself?
Well, the question is that one has a lot of oneself, sometimes I think that
I have chosen a turbulent, difficult and strange life, was this choice necessary?
It was necessary to choose
I do not know
Do not know yet?
I still do not know, I think it must have been interesting that I wanted to continue
I chose and continued, some of my friends who still see me years later
They ask if I’m still so bold?
Then I think to myself, was I brave?
Because now I no longer seem to be bold
But when I think about my choices, I think I’m probably bold
Part 11
In Iranian art, traditional art goes one way, modern art another
Art imported from the West takes a completely different path, traditional art takes a another path
The two almost never merged
Many painters who were modernists also had an attempt at miniatures at one time or another
They all painted a cypress on a board, made an effort
But they did not fundamentally go into miniature space
One of the things I do myself is changing the whole structure of the miniature
I make changes, but I also get inspired by some things
But I also use a part of the structure and technique of the miniature
For example, those engravings and details
Pakistanis built art school They also had a traditional art school
They came together, a group of Pakistani artists who are much younger than us.
But they were lucky and were introduced to other countries in time and before us
Especially the United States, for example, Ms. Shahzia Sekandar, Mr. Imran Qureshi and many others
They came and took a different look at the miniature, they learned the miniature technique
But they also learned the technique of Western art, they also learned to look at Western art
And they made a big difference in the miniature, and because they had the miniature technique
They also had a different look and their atmosphere was not traditional
They were very well received and now their work is in very good places in America
It is presented in museums, galleries and other very good places
We did not do this here, our modernities, our miniaturists strongly rejected
That is, they always said that this is a dead end and a catastrophe and should not be done at all
Regardless of the hard but good technique and effort they put in
They said that it was a negligence and a meaningless act
And we have nothing to do with modernism at all, it usually gets very hard with these
He set up a roundtable, it is usually very difficult to talk to each other
For example, in judging, they never take anyone out of the miniature
They do not take anyone away from modern art either
This incident caused the two paths to go completely separate
As a result, we stayed in our traditional space in miniature
I held an exhibition about 8, 9 years ago
In the name of painting effects in contemporary Iranian art
For six months I worked on this exhibition, I studied
And I collected about 200 paintings by 70 painters
Each of these is somehow influenced by a miniature
Part of their work was related to miniatures
Almost 70 years before the Tehran school, the miniature was revived in some way
I brought some of those works and put them in the Imam Ali Museum, which was on three floors
In one floor there were traditional miniatures, and in the later floors there were works by artists
Like Moslemian, Amin Nazar nd Mahjoubi too
Nami Petgar had a series of scenes influenced by miniatures
and they were interesting work
And a lot of work from other artists like Aydin Aghdashloo and many others
Each of which had a relationship with a part of the miniature
And they changed it somehow and brought it into their work
Some took miniatures from different periods
Some had picked up parts
It was an exhibition that I really liked and I held a conference with it
But even this exhibition was not taken very seriously and was not valued
His catalog did not appear at all because unfortunately the manager changed, while
Well, I had collected these works from different places, from museums and many other places
And I wanted this to be an educational exhibition, let’s take a look
and see who really tried what and why, were they successful or not
Because miniature is an important part of our art and we can not deny it
We do not get anywhere by denying it, we have to analyze it and work on it
In my opinion, Iranian art has a lot to say, many were disappointed with the situation of contemporary art
but I’m not like that, I think we have good art
We also have talented, persistent and creative people in our youth who have good technique and thought.
We are in a period of transition, this period of transition is difficult for some
It is difficult for us too
Because basically art has found a strong material value that has not been the case before
This issue always has its drawbacks, but it also has its advantages
Art is entering the professional space, we could not be in stay in a romantic atmosphere all the time
we have to move with the world and move forward anyway
Professional art has all these things with it, all these negative margins and dimensions.
But it also has positive dimensions, we have to go through it again
Now, in the middle, some people and some parts of art are also harmed
But well, the whole world went through this period, we have to go through it too
I strongly believe in combining the power of the young and the experienced and the aged
Because I think that when I was very young I was with people who
were much older than me, I’d make friends with them, and I loved that very much
Because I learned a lot from them, and I still do
learn a lot from young people and this is very interesting to me
Because I think these are valuable together
It is not enough for us to associate with just one generation or a group of people
We have to deal with different ages, that world of young people, their hopes or their disappointments
Their energy or their efforts are all very attractive to me
It reminds me that I was trying to do the same
or even how much a sentence from a mature person meant to me
Or a man who took my hand from here to there, how valuable it is to me
So this has been done for me, and I have the debt to do it for others
You see, we were an idealistic generation, today’s generation is a pragmatic generation
Basically, nature, space, the global situation and the situation of Iran demand this
In art, too, if I may explain, we were very idealistic, as I said
When we entered art, no one had any income from painting
Usually, good painters did other work besides painting, for example, they taught.
The fact that one is only a painter professionally was rare in painters
If he was someone, or his financial situation was not good, or if he was,
he had good family financial support
Except for some miniature artists
For example, Mr. Farshchian sold very well at that time
But in modern painting, prices were not at all such that one could manage a life with it
We entered with that vision, we did not think at all about income from painting
For 10 years, nothing has happened in the visual arts of Iran except a kind of painting that
It served to express the spirit of the revolution or war, which was supported by the government
Now war or revolution was a national issue that also concerned us
and it was not related just to a certain group
But it is possible that a painter does not want to express this in art
For example, in art, he wants to express something else or to express the subject more generally
Artists who, like us, expressed other subjects
We were not under any protection
Because it was a difficult space, we had serious problems presenting our work
And we had very strict laws to get things out of Iran, it was very troublesome
We could only take 5 works out of the country for a solo exhibition
As a result, there was no opportunity to hold an exhibition outside of Iran
Those ten years were the most important years of our lives in terms of our form and shape
Somehow it was spent in a completely closed space
Even after the war, when construction and these things started,
communications with outside Iran were not made that way, it was very brief and still not for us
From a date onwards when the space gradually opened up and
these exchanges began and the Museum of Contemporary Art became active
At least one exhibition was held outside Iran, but there were little faclities
and the connections of the Iranian art space with outside Iran were cut off
There weren’t any exhibition that could be called fasinating
Painters before us who had become painters and had names and positions
They had a relatively good period before the revolution
They had gained fame, they had been criticized
Their work was sent out of Iran, they had participated in many places and biennials
Our generation graduated from college at the same time as the revolution
and were just starting to work
We in the newspapers, which were not mentioned at all, for example, only knew that
This painter is here and that painter is working there and that one is selling his work
When slowly these exhibitions were held outside Iran
It also started with those who came from there and wanted to work
everyone wanted to take the painters who were relatively young
And we were gone in middle age and it was no longer about us
Now these painters who are now, they are thinking about price
They think about the way they work
If something goes up for auction, it sells well
They wonder if it is better to work that way
They have a good fortune and a bad fortune for us
Luckily for them, they have the chance to go abroad
in a good gallery and a very good future be made for them
Their bad luck is that their type of painting may be restricted
meaniing they are not free within themselves of what they desire
For these, those conditions are limitations, that is, they are worried that
How to work so that their work can be sold both outside Iran
This is the difference between our generation and the new generation
Our art history is as follows,
many times it disconnects, reconnects, disconnects again
Because of the political or social movements that take place
Usually denies a part and starts a part again
Before the revolution, I think we had 5 biennials
but when we came to hold the biennial again, it became the first biennial, the second biennial
While in Europe or anywhere else war has taken place
Governments have changed and many other things have happened
But the Venice Biennale is still being held in its place, the Cannes Film Festival is being held in its place
Nothing changes, that is, they do not start over and express themselves again
These breaks are basically both in the artist and in our performances
The projects we had, it had always happened
In the frescoes left from the Safavid period in Isfahan, these really beautiful paintings
Many times we see them plastered and painted again
I always ask myself that there are so many places in the world, so many walls in the world
Isn’t there just enough space for us to erase that painting so well?
to put plaster on it and draw another painting
Or, for example, they plastered and tiled a very beautiful brick
Or they plastered and bricked the beautiful tile that is in our architecture
This shows our character to some extent
what should we do if we want to say that we are both of these?
If we clear the surface to keep the previous one, we will lose that surface
If we want to keep the face, we lose the previous one
I think this is a symbolic act, everything good and bad
We plaster on all and paint something again from the beginning
And we create a pain for the future that they do not know which one to choose
This has happened to all the schools we have
In different ways, I came to the conclusion that I should be myself
and do what I believe in
If I want to observe an issue for the sake of someone, something or a current
Either I’m afraid to do it or I think it ‘s okay to do it, no
As a result, I always felt that the more honest I was, the better
My biggest wish is to be healthy and work until the last minute