Gesso, acrylic, glitter and epoxy clay resin on panel, 60” x 48”
Gesso, acrylic and glitter on panel, 36” x 66”
Gesso, acrylic and glitter on panel, 40” x 30”
Gesso, acrylic and glitter on canvas, 48” tondo
Gesso and acrylic on canvas, 9” tondo
Gesso, acrylic, glitter and epoxy clay resin on panel, 60” x 36”
Gesso and acrylic on panel, 15” x 22”
Gesso, acrylic and glitter on panel, 22” x 15”
Gesso and acrylic on panel, 32” x 39”
Gesso, acrylic, glitter, epoxy resin and Wikki Stix on panel, 36” x 48”
Gesso and acrylic on canvas stretched on panel, 72” x 60”
The Taking is a faux-museum installation of 29 painted fragments with accompanying wall text. Each fragment depicts a detail of actual source material primarily Western in origin— chosen for its connection to the rich visual legacy of Iran and its neighbors. The museum-like wall text treats Persian and Iraqi contributions as central. The Taking is about acknowledging forgotten sources, challenging exceptionalism and biases in art history, and the need to build a new narratives.
Included in The Janet & Walter Sondheim 2019 Artscape Prize Finalists Exhibition.
Gesso, acrylic and glitter on panel, 12” x 12”
Gesso, acrylic and glitter on panel, 48” x 48”
Gesso, acrylic and glitter on panel, 39” x 32”
Mixed media on Stryofoam trays packaging Persian cucumbers and baby zucchini, 9” x 72” (unframed)
Interactive dance platform reclaiming the Persian carpet and the magic carpet as a dance floor: a gift of escape for viewers and a love letter to Iran’s dance-loving culture. Acrylic sheets, wood, translucent films, color lighting gel filters, various tapes, spray paint, enamel latex paint, China Marker, Sharpie, Colored LED lights, rayon fringe, 80” x 48” x 8” (height)
Interactive dance platform. Acrylic sheets, wood, translucent films, color lighting gel filters, various tapes, spray paint, enamel latex paint, China Marker, Sharpie, Colored LED lights, rayon fringe, 80” x 48” x 8” (height), 2018.
Inspired by an ancient, pre-Islamic Iranian wine vessel, and Iranian pottery from Islamic periods, this vessel contains an Amazon Alexa. Viewers are invited to request a song or playlist. This piece was exhibited alongside a “magic carpet” dance platform. Together, they reclaim imagery from 1001 Nights, paying tribute to Iran’s maximalist art and dance floor-loving culture.
In my artist book Shahrzadistan (and video by Bethany Fancher of its pages to Rimsky-Karsakov’s Scheherazade), I pay tribute to the forgotten narrator of 1001 Nights, Shahrzad. The pages contain psychological drawings reflecting her existential threat, and survival through creativity. The drawings are inspired by Persian miniatures and my own teenage sketchbooks.