WEBVTT

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[Gowanus, Brooklyn]

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So much of being an artist
depends on daily life,

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daily interactions, daily politics.

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

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["Maryam Hoseini's Every Day Abstractions"]

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

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is when I was thirteen.

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I had this teacher at school,

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and the way that she was teaching--

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and also she's such a strong being,

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as a woman in a place like Iran--

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that I think I was so interested in that.

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I vividly remember the time that I was like,

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

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"I want to keep making work."

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

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I always feel like I'm a drawer.

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I start with it,
I make some painting,

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and then I make drawing on top of it.

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So it's always a back and forth.

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

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"Layla and Majnun."

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It's about a forbidden love.

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I developed this series,

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"Secrets Between Her and Her Shadow."

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I was more interested in the female character,

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because apparently
no one was paying attention to her,

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because it was all about
how Majnun lost his mind.

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I was so curious about Laylah
as this very vulnerable female

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that was banned from speaking

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and even desiring

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what she really wanted.

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

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There are moments that you really laugh

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

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In my earlier paintings,

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the space the figures are located
is more legible.

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For the past few years,

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I have really used that legibility.

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I have chosen to present
the bodies without the head,

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because of the politics around identity.

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These fractured spaces

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and fragmented bodies,

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

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as an immigrant

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

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

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I mean, these bodies they have anxiety.

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

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I am giving them power.

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I constantly think about the body
interactions inside of the painting

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and the body relationship
to the physical space around it.

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

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public and private.

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That in between space
provides some sort of openness

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for the bodies to move fluidly,

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for the viewers' interpretations.

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The presence of people there,

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it almost completes this--

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or builds this--

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performance there.