As an Iranian-American artist I am interested in the subject of artistic and cultural originality and exchange between Islamic and Western art. Hand-woven Persian pile-carpets are the subject of my artworks. Meanwhile, this cultural and aesthetic appreciation of oriental rugs has developed into a luxury symbol in the West. At times cultures become overlaid due to people traveling and introducing new commodities, cultures, and ideas. However, in this process the original meaning of an object or a pattern might get lost. Common aesthetic interests between the East and the West play significant role in the adoption of Eastern aesthetics by Western cultures.

During 1985-1999, the years that I lived in the historic city of Isfahan, Iran, I was exposed to various Islamic arts, among which are exquisite carpets. The city is known for its traditional art practices, craftsmen, and its art-loving population. It is the home to many miniature painters, ceramists, rug weavers, wood and metal engravers. One would experience the splendor of Islamic art by walking through the traditional artists’ section of Isfahan’s famous Royal Bazaar built in the early 17th century. The continuous pounding sound of carving and hammering into enormous red brass and silver basins, echoed by the line of never-ending domes in the long pathways of bazaar, brings to mind the unimaginable labor and high craftsmanship that goes into the art created in these dark and narrow passages, and it is unforgettable.

My paintings depict Western manufacturers’ careless misrepresentations of a historically and universally admired art, hand-made Persian rug weaving. Western carpet industries incorporate Persian rug motifs in their productions; however, these manufacturers carelessly borrow and transform traditional patterns into mass-produced and machine-made carpets that look unappealing, unoriginal, and lack fine quality, elaborate curvilinear patterns, and rich vibrant colors significant to original Persian rugs. In my studio I use Western-manufactured machine-made rugs and cut, flip over, misplace, re-attach, and paint over these readymades. It is my intention to play off and bring attention to their cheap qualities. By transforming them into art objects I give these ready-mades new characters and new identities, originality, and value. Through forming adjustments to the format, texture, and superimposing images by shaving off the surface or by painting over machine-made carpets, I strive for the arrival of skill and handiwork in these products that lack original identity and cultural value.