ENDJAVI-BARBÉ ART PROJECTS
PROFILE | ARTISTS | EXHIBITIONS | NEWS | CONTACT | LINKS
MATIN ABEDI | GOLNAR ADILI | MARYAM ASHKANIAN | ALIREZA ASTANEH | GOHAR DASHTI | HABIB FARAJABADI | AMIR FARHAD
KAMRAN HEIDARI
| MARYAM HOSEINI | VAHID JAFARNEZAD | ELNAZ JAVANI | YASSER MIRZAEE | HOUMAN MORTAZAVI | SAMANEH MOTALEBI TAHER POURHEIDARI | MÉLODIE HOJABR SADAT | ABOLFAZI SHAHI | NEDA ZARFSAZ | ALI & RAMYAR
 
MARYAM ASHKANIAN PROFILE | WORKS | BIOGRAPHY
 
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I entered the Fine Arts University in Rasht in 2007, Iran. It was the best decision of my life.

My mother’s village is in Gilan (Caspian area), which is one of the main places in Iran for sewing. My childhood was embedded in textiles and sewing. Until I started at the fine arts university, I did not realise it was possible to use textiles as a medium, so I used oil painting at first. Later, I realised that oil paint was not my vision of the world. It took me awhile to understand and realise the numerous possibilities and the flexibility that textiles and sewing could bring to my practice. There were some things I couldn’t achieve in oil
painting that I can with textiles.

My work process begins with my "études" or preparatory sketches, which represent the mental process of each work. However, sometimes the monoprint and the collage aspects of the work take control and become the dominant forces.

I search for old fabrics, and I have my own treasure hunts in the traditional marketplaces as well as private homes. The weekend markets are where I find the best fabrics for my work.

You can't find the same patterns and character in new fabric as in old textiles. I’m not trying to make a sentimental issue out of the old textiles, but my lifelong experiences with fabric have given me a different view of them.

In my work, I attempt to create a concrete conceptual body formed with many layers to achieve what my inspiration guides me to do.

I get lots of personal satisfaction from my work. I work layer by layer until the point that I can say it was a successful dialogue. If I’m not happy with the work, I will separate the unfinished parts and begin again. I do not sign the work until I have realised my concept - even though I may get compliments from others during the process.

Poetry inspires me. Often, in my mind, there is something meaningful going through a maturing process, and when I hear a word, poem or story, the language guides me unconsciously toward the inspiration that was maturing in my mind. My work starts from the moment I can reconstruct the inspiration for myself. My work is very similar to a writer’s work but with a different result.

The major influence in my work comes from my immediate surroundings. These inspirational elements are often very simple things that I witnessed growing up, but they gave me a deeper sensibility toward my work. To develop this further and preserve it, I spend time every month taking photos of distant parts of my hometown and villages in Iran – this way, I don’t lose my contact with these elements.


Maryam Askhanian November 2011

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