Arghavan Khosravi
My practice is intrinsically linked to my life experiences, yet
it opens a space in which to recast memories and process
the paradoxes of my childhood in Tehran, and to ground my
perspective as an Iranian now living in the US.
Born soon after the Islamic Revolution, I witnessed my country’s
transformation from a Western-friendly monarchy into a
suppressive theocratic republic. My paintings describe the double
life I have always led, adhering to Islamic law in public while
thinking and acting freely in private.
My paintings weave multilingual narratives, combining traditional
Islamic motifs (architecture, textiles, decorative objects,
references to mythology, and religious painting) with surrealist
and contemporary visual elements. This blending of Eastern and
Western imagery, past and present, the religious and the secular,
reality and fantasy, is symbolic of my deeply felt psychological
tension.
Compositionally, the work is influenced by the tradition of Persian
miniature painting, utilizing stacked perspective, cutaway views
of architecture, and rich detail. I complicate the picture with
contemporary messages and visual metaphors related to the
themes of freedom of expression, the power dynamics between
genders, suppression, and identity.