Migrations on Silk
With Migrations on Silk, I wanted to create a space for the unspoken narratives of migrations to dissolve the separation between us and the immigrants of the past and the present, across cultures, distances and time.
I made drawings of immigrants like an ancient filmstrip travelogue from above, on silk. I used silk because it still carries ‘life’ as it is graced and perfumed by the last breath of the silk worm. Using an ancient Japanese technique, I painted many layers of pigments on paper to create imaginary landscapes. The layers of pigments allude to layers of generations, geologies, peoples, cultures, and languages. The moons are created by luminescent gofun made of oyster shells to illuminate the way.
The stories you hear are stories of immigrants from Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Turkey, Vietnam, France and Taiwan. It is only when you stay in front of the painting, that the ‘life’ of the painting is prolonged and a story is told; demanding a longer presence from you. Some mountains will reveal themselves a little later anyway.
While I was creating these paintings I felt like I was walking along with the immigrants on my imagined landscapes. The techniques I use need time and patience, one layer takes one day. Thus, I was with them for months. Every day, they asked for something, and I gave it to them as another layer. Their stories became my stories. I would like the viewer to feel the same. I would like their stories to remain with them like they did with me. I am grateful to Sharon Prize for supporting my project.
Mineral pigments on overlayed paper and silk, 36×48 in and mineral pigments on overlayed silk, 48×72 in
I created mountains .. so they can walk
I gave them the moon .. so they can follow
they said we need hope .. so I gave them the skies
where do we sleep at night? they asked .. I gave them high meadows
what if there is no tomorrow? they said .. I gave them the dusk so they can dream
They asked for new beginnings .. I gave them two storks
Then they told me their stories, one by one.
A Thousand Forgotten Nights
Red is the color of a life lived with passion. for “A Thousand Forgotten Nights” I searched for the most intense red and painted layers of this pigment with shadows of black until my own forgotten nights of love were inscribed on them. I would like to ask the viewer to pause and look for their own moments of passion and love. I was inspired by Rainer Maria Rilke.
Mineral pigments on paper on board, 38×51 in
Landscapes of Desire
“Landscapes of Desire” is a series of large sized abstract paintings inspired by the poem “Shattering Love” by Hayden Dansky who is a Boulder-based poet. Concealed behind a layer of a barely transparent gold are subtle landscapes suggesting a sense of a quiet desire, tempting the viewer to stay longer to see what is hidden. Similarly, Hayden’s poem barely hints at the present and the past inviting the reader vulnerably and fearlessly to read between the lines while revealing love, desire and longing.
Mineral pigments and gold on paper on board, 36×48 in
Birds Never Before Seen
birds never before seen greeted them with myths about the search for truth and gave them magical wings (from my book “The Journey”)
Mineral pigments on paper and silk, overlayed, 6×36 in (sold out)
My Memory Seeks High Meadows
In my installation “my memory seeks high meadows”, dreams, imagination,
memory and subconscious are blended by overlayed transparent paintings.
Faith and sin yield to each other allowing me to dance only to music my
heart desires giving a gentle kindness to who I can be. Fantasies, secrets and
despairs lay beneath the many cities of my past replacing the need for
belonging with a desire to be placeless. Separate memories are reconstructed on
the same frame, or dreams appear on imagined landscapes removing the lines
between dreams, memory and imagination hinting at an untold truth about me. Thus,
I let myself fall into the lightness of being placeless, and borderless where
there are fig trees warmed in the sun and nameless high meadows on which live
the heroes of my imagination.
Mineral pigments on paper and silk, overlayed
Dream of the Gold Chamber
Dream of the Gold Chamber is a painting dedicated to all the women who aren’t able to fulfil their dreams.
Inscribed on my sleeves rose scents of an afternoon sin in your black eyes
Haiku, Belgin
Genuine gold and ink on board, 36×36 in
Praise of Uncertainty
The artworks that I created for this exhibition remain true to my desire to create with simplicity and ambiguity. I allowed for empty spaces which create an uncertainty that inspires seeking our own stories. An openness to uncertainty in any conversation leads to endless possibilities and new meanings. In Noh theater, for example, a pause gives space for an inner rehearsal and imagination similar to silence in music. I created forms with a sense of refinement of the Japanese aesthetics that dissolve into these spaces. The Islamic sense of calligraphic brushwork I rendered vertically similar to Asian scripts are love poems written by Arabic women contradicting the traditional Islamic calligraphy. The mere presence of such inscriptions deliver powerful messages even if they are not legible. I am interested in this power as well as their seductive aesthetics. Silences, disappearing figures, and the scripts hold a space that suggests a mysterious mood that isn’t to be described, but to be felt.
Genuine gold and ink on paper on board, 18×24 in and 12×12 in
Epic of Imagination
Inspiration, or inspirate means breathe upon. It is not visible as it is made of breath and it can fly to the moon with wings carrying colors and shapes and words we artists create.
In these dual-sided paintings one side came from within myself; on the other side, I let the transferred image dictate. Similar to a conversation where we start by saying something from within us then reflect upon what the other person says. These four paintings are to be seen by walking around them. The video link provides a visual of the installation. Small paintings are to accompany them on the wall space.
Mineral pigments, ink, pencil, genuine gold on paper of various sizes