Artist statement

In my paintings and artworks, I portray the struggles and concerns that I have faced as an immigrant woman. No matter what country one emigrates from, your beliefs, values, traditions, and culture are like the contents of a suitcase that one carries throughout their life in a new country. This new painting, The Frame, uses symbolism that recalls surrealism and is painted in a naturalistic manner. I have used my daughter as the model in order to consider the differences between my life experience and hers. She is half covered and half-reveale, to express how she is part of two worlds. To portray the limitations of any point of view, I have her holding a frame, outside which a colder, less accurate quality of light is depicted. The draped Persian carpet over her legs references both Iran and symbolizes heaven on the earth. But, as I am not fully able to feel at home in this new place, the carpet is not laid fully flat upon the ground. The figure is enclosed by curtains that prevent her from being fully present in her current reality. In this painting, I reflect on myself in both a personal way and in relation to society. My hope is for the imagery to resonate with migrants of any background and to reveal the complexity of the experience to those who haven’t gone through it.

Work in Progress