Maryam Hoseini's Every Day Abstractions | Art21 "New York Close Up"

[Gowanus, Brooklyn]

So much of being an artist
depends on daily life,

daily interactions, daily politics.

And so much of the work
is about representation of self.

["Maryam Hoseini's Every Day Abstractions"]

The first time that I realized that
making drawings is something I really love

is when I was thirteen.

I had this teacher at school,

and the way that she was teaching--

and also she's such a strong being,

as a woman in a place like Iran--

that I think I was so interested in that.

I vividly remember the time that I was like,

"I want to just go to these drawing classes."

"I want to keep making work."

And I had piles and piles of papers
at my parents house.

I always feel like I'm a drawer.

I start with it,
I make some painting,

and then I make drawing on top of it.

So it's always a back and forth.

So I was asked to make work about
this famous poem,

"Layla and Majnun."

It's about a forbidden love.

I developed this series,

"Secrets Between Her and Her Shadow."

I was more interested in the female character,

because apparently
no one was paying attention to her,

because it was all about
how Majnun lost his mind.

I was so curious about Laylah
as this very vulnerable female

that was banned from speaking

and even desiring

what she really wanted.

I think so much of the work,
it's a mix of humor and fear.

There are moments that you really laugh

even though you're afraid of a lot of things.

In my earlier paintings,

the space the figures are located
is more legible.

For the past few years,

I have really used that legibility.

I have chosen to present
the bodies without the head,

because of the politics around identity.

These fractured spaces

and fragmented bodies,

that is somehow the reflection of
my own personal experiences and life,

as an immigrant

and as a person who is not even
able to travel to my country,

and to return to my work
and life here in America.

I mean, these bodies they have anxiety.

But also on the other side,
they are very strong.

I am giving them power.

I constantly think about the body
interactions inside of the painting

and the body relationship
to the physical space around it.

I'm interested in the space between
painting and drawing,

public and private.

That in between space
provides some sort of openness

for the bodies to move fluidly,

for the viewers' interpretations.

The presence of people there,

it almost completes this--

or builds this--

performance there.