elham bayati
STATEMENT OF ART
My works are episodic, and my mind is layered. They are about a woman’s living in different times and paradoxical worlds at the same time. I visually narrate thousand years of Persian women’s souls- tired souls, conveying the pressures of hegemonic masculinity and a society which tries to ignore them; I narrate their love, anger, silence, sadness, and happiness.
My works are about my vision about myself as an Iranian woman, my sense of reality and my identity. I paint the many flowers that grew even though patriarchal society tried to cut them. They reflect the floral patterns that remind me of my grandmother’s scarf, and my mother’s dress-making fabrics. These patterns signify the beauty of a peaceful point in the middle of the dark life of contemporary Iran.
I use fabrics, collage, and different types of printing, and layer my drawings with prints and patterns with figures of women. In my dreams I reconcile two worlds: I strive to illustrate a rich, colorful culture that has been faded by the dark shade of sadness.
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