I incorporate painting and printmaking to connect my personal experiences with my surroundings. My subjects are in the circle of my public and private life in Iran which includes my body, urban landscapes, sculptures, and still life.
I work both inside and outside my studio. Inside the studio, I spend long periods observing my body in mirrors, using the painting process to address the complexities of living in a male body with a humorous tone. I transform my personal space into a site of revelation, playfulness, and experimentation of gender, the stigma, and brutal policing around depicting the nude male body concerning my position as an artist working in patriarchy in contemporary Iran. Within these works, I intend to blur the boundaries between the painting genres of self-portrait, still life, and landscape.
Outside the studio, I paint en plein air throughout Tehran. As an immigrant arriving in the capital of Iran, I leaned towards painting my surroundings by using representation to understand, connect and, at times, conquer the unknown dynamics and underlying relations of a congested and hectic urban center. Walking on these noisy sidewalks and exposed to rushed pedestrians, I set up my easel, impersonating a masterful painter, to explore my socioeconomic position as an artist in the urban fabric of Tehran through the eyes of non-experts.
Reflecting on the financial aspects of my life as an immigrant and the overall economic implications of living and working as an artist, I have used coins and metro cards as a painting surface, reactivating and reevaluating a common currency. With sculptural thick texture brush strokes, I have depicted on these surfaces familiar heroic scenes, architectural heritage sites, and urban sculptures, all monuments of a past long gone.
My questioning of image production and the role of painting reverberates in my prints. I use printmaking to distribute my narrative artworks among my audience and diversify my viewers. For that, I have used printmaking and bookmaking techniques such as etching and drypoint, as well as digital printing, through which I have published illustrative books. Materials used in my self-published books are satirical commentaries on my day-to-day interactions with modern art and obstacles in the everyday life of my community.
