ARTIST STATEMENT

My paintings are not images. They are events.

They are physical records of a process where I use unconventional tools to scratch, scrape, and layer paint, creating a surface that mimics the woven richness of Iranian rugs. This texture is not decorative; it is a history. I have to destroy things in order to build them again.

I use this destructive process to navigate the tension between the seen and the unseen. In my figurative work (Living Against the Void), I drag this texture over the subject like a veil, obscuring the face to represent the struggle against external forces. In my abstract work, I bury the texture underneath, using it as a rugged foundation for bold, energetic drips of color. In both styles, I don’t believe in perfection. Ruins are more interesting.

A painting should carry memory in its material, reveal time through damage, and accept imperfection as truth. My canvases are filled with cracks, seams, and eroded layers because I work with memory because forgetting is dangerous.

Mixed media on canvas
36 × 36 in.
2025