SHAHRZAD AMIN

Through the lenses of art practice, pattern making, architectural design, and language, my painting "Healing Bonds" examines the power and effectiveness of artwork to express ideas about connectivity between Iranian culture and other Canadian identities. By creating this piece, I aim to highlight a social openness and necessity for global international connectivity by applying the figure of four-centered arches (traditional Iranian architectural structures) as a metaphor for overcoming cultural distances. I used Persian calligraphy and traditional Iranian motifs in combination with the drawing of four-centered arches as cultural references to invite the viewers to experience Iranian culture through different aspects such as language, architectural design, local elements, and history to underscore the importance of culture, place, and memory in connecting cultures. I believe in the power of culture in connecting people because it can repair the rifts created by factors such as war, socio-economic strife, and prejudice. All of the cultures influenced each other in some way or the other, for example, a few patterns, such as Sunwheel and Paisley motifs, seem to have stayed constant throughout time. Even to this day, we can find these patterns occur across a range of cultures, from Iran to North American indigenous arts and crafts. Therefore, there must be a connection and I am specifically interested to visualize these links through my art practice.

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.