1 00:00:14,500 --> 00:00:18,260 [Gowanus, Brooklyn] 2 00:00:19,180 --> 00:00:23,520 So much of being an artist depends on daily life, 3 00:00:23,540 --> 00:00:25,820 daily interactions, daily politics. 4 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:32,960 And so much of the work is about representation of self. 5 00:00:41,100 --> 00:00:46,020 ["Maryam Hoseini's Every Day Abstractions"] 6 00:00:55,500 --> 00:01:00,960 The first time that I realized that making drawings is something I really love 7 00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:03,230 is when I was thirteen. 8 00:01:03,230 --> 00:01:06,100 I had this teacher at school, 9 00:01:06,100 --> 00:01:09,110 and the way that she was teaching-- 10 00:01:09,110 --> 00:01:11,640 and also she's such a strong being, 11 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:15,390 as a woman in a place like Iran-- 12 00:01:15,390 --> 00:01:18,980 that I think I was so interested in that. 13 00:01:21,409 --> 00:01:25,560 I vividly remember the time that I was like, 14 00:01:25,570 --> 00:01:28,890 "I want to just go to these drawing classes." 15 00:01:28,890 --> 00:01:30,780 "I want to keep making work." 16 00:01:30,780 --> 00:01:37,000 And I had piles and piles of papers at my parents house. 17 00:01:42,850 --> 00:01:45,020 I always feel like I'm a drawer. 18 00:01:45,020 --> 00:01:47,130 I start with it, I make some painting, 19 00:01:47,130 --> 00:01:48,781 and then I make drawing on top of it. 20 00:01:48,781 --> 00:01:50,920 So it's always a back and forth. 21 00:02:00,060 --> 00:02:05,720 So I was asked to make work about this famous poem, 22 00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:07,740 "Layla and Majnun." 23 00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:10,480 It's about a forbidden love. 24 00:02:11,080 --> 00:02:14,040 I developed this series, 25 00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:16,880 "Secrets Between Her and Her Shadow." 26 00:02:18,260 --> 00:02:22,820 I was more interested in the female character, 27 00:02:22,820 --> 00:02:26,760 because apparently no one was paying attention to her, 28 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:30,860 because it was all about how Majnun lost his mind. 29 00:02:33,060 --> 00:02:41,190 I was so curious about Laylah as this very vulnerable female 30 00:02:41,190 --> 00:02:44,139 that was banned from speaking 31 00:02:44,139 --> 00:02:46,109 and even desiring 32 00:02:46,109 --> 00:02:48,680 what she really wanted. 33 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:11,780 I think so much of the work, it's a mix of humor and fear. 34 00:03:11,780 --> 00:03:14,150 There are moments that you really laugh 35 00:03:14,150 --> 00:03:16,540 even though you're afraid of a lot of things. 36 00:03:20,010 --> 00:03:22,240 In my earlier paintings, 37 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:26,920 the space the figures are located is more legible. 38 00:03:27,980 --> 00:03:30,310 For the past few years, 39 00:03:30,310 --> 00:03:33,640 I have really used that legibility. 40 00:03:33,640 --> 00:03:37,770 I have chosen to present the bodies without the head, 41 00:03:37,770 --> 00:03:41,160 because of the politics around identity. 42 00:04:02,460 --> 00:04:05,540 These fractured spaces 43 00:04:05,540 --> 00:04:07,900 and fragmented bodies, 44 00:04:07,900 --> 00:04:14,329 that is somehow the reflection of my own personal experiences and life, 45 00:04:14,329 --> 00:04:15,329 as an immigrant 46 00:04:15,329 --> 00:04:20,670 and as a person who is not even able to travel to my country, 47 00:04:20,670 --> 00:04:24,740 and to return to my work and life here in America. 48 00:04:25,400 --> 00:04:27,699 I mean, these bodies they have anxiety. 49 00:04:27,700 --> 00:04:31,820 But also on the other side, they are very strong. 50 00:04:31,820 --> 00:04:33,540 I am giving them power. 51 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:43,930 I constantly think about the body interactions inside of the painting 52 00:04:43,930 --> 00:04:48,120 and the body relationship to the physical space around it. 53 00:04:49,250 --> 00:04:54,860 I'm interested in the space between painting and drawing, 54 00:04:54,870 --> 00:04:56,620 public and private. 55 00:04:56,620 --> 00:05:02,379 That in between space provides some sort of openness 56 00:05:02,379 --> 00:05:06,060 for the bodies to move fluidly, 57 00:05:06,060 --> 00:05:08,880 for the viewers' interpretations. 58 00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:11,860 The presence of people there, 59 00:05:11,870 --> 00:05:14,060 it almost completes this-- 60 00:05:14,060 --> 00:05:16,120 or builds this-- 61 00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:17,640 performance there.