INTHEARTS MAGAZINE 2

1. Briefly describe the work you do.
I am a visual artist who explores various mediums, with a specific focus on
fabric. In creating my artworks, I meticulously unravel the fabric, removing
sections of the weft or warp, utilizing destruction as a tool for creation.
My upbringing was in an environment where the constant threat of sudden
destruction lingered. The possibility of war resuming, a major earthquake,
or the volcanic eruption of Damavand could wipe out everything in Tehran
overnight. Despite these warnings, we were encouraged to pursue education,
attend university, and build our lives. In my artistic practice, I reflect on this
process through the technique of unraveling, symbolizing the marriage of
destruction and construction. Through the method of unweaving, I disrupt
and weaken the smooth surface of the fabric, resulting in more or less
abstract shapes. Additionally, I aim to convey concepts such as the body at
work and the duration of labor through this meticulous process. The theme
that captivates me is the trace. I am passionate about revealing elements
that persist and resist the passage of time. The power of the trace extracts a
moment from the past, making it more visible than anything surrounding us.
This force blurs the line between the present and the past, the visible and the
invisible, the appearance and the disappearance. For this reason, I became
interested in working with fabric. The versatile nature of textiles, capable
of both concealing and revealing, fascinates me. Textiles serve as both a
boundary and a connection, representing us by covering us.
2. What or who inspires your work and how has that
influenced both your work and your identity as an artist?
It’s partly my work at the studio that inspires me. Often, what I had planned
doesn’t unfold as expected. Deleuze stated that “having an idea” is a
celebration for artists; for me, it’s the so-called “happy mistake” that marks
the celebration. It allows me to discover new paths and forms. Stephen
Hawking noted that man is the product of nature’s mistakes. I believe in that
– to create, there must be an element of error, provoking surprise to achieve
something new. My work is also influenced by photos, flea markets, and
real and fictional stories. I am particularly sensitive to films, with Tarkovsky
being the artist who influenced me the most, both through his films and
the atmospheres he creates, as well as his book “Sculpting in Time.” Artists
like Chantal Akerman, Abbas Kiarostami, Bela Tarr, etc., have also left an
impact on me. Moreover, philosophical, psychological, or scientific ideas
introduce me to a new vocabulary and influence my visual language, as
well as enriching my spoken language. Concepts such as the importance of
experience in phenomenology, the resilience concept in psychology, the way
Alzheimer’s patients remember things, or how we “perceive” color allow me
to explore the meaning of “trace” from various perspectives.
3. Making Art traditionally carry cultural, historical, or
personal narratives. How do you incorporate these narratives
in your contemporary pieces?
I was born in 1986, during the Iran-Iraq war. The following years were marked
by the dissemination of lists of missing persons. I remember the buses that
brought back soldiers declared missing, the empty graves, the fragmented
bodies, and the photos and objects that were all that was left of a person—
relics taking the place of a son or a father in a family. These disappearances
took various forms in Iran, affecting not only political figures but also
everyday aspects, imposed by adults’ injunction to silence, forcing children
to keep their daily lives hidden. Celebrations such as birthdays, weddings,
and gatherings took place in secret, away from prying eyes. My childhood
was a constant conflict between ostensible appearance and invisible
private. At 15, I was forced to wear the veil, changing my relationship with
fabric. For someone who loved playing with fabric scraps collected from my
grandmother, they became objects of oppression. Wonderful, tangible, and
multicolored toys turned into a uniform erasing all traits of my personality.
My departure for France in 2009 had a significant influence on my artistic
work. Upon arrival, I found myself alone in a completely new context, far
from family, friends, and everything I had known before. That’s when I felt
like I was the trace of my past life for the first time. I developed an interest in
what was now out of sight, disappeared, and invisible, rekindling my love for
fabric.
4. Do you aim for a particular emotional or sensory
experience in audience interaction with your pieces,
considering that textiles or mixed media artworks can evoke
a tactile response?
My textile works are not meant to be handled, but I never use distancing
barriers, even for my large-scale pieces. I aim to provoke in the spectator
the desire to approach, to look closely, and even the desire to touch them.
This closeness and desire help elevate the question of the body and its
experience. Since, with my works, I aim to evoke manual labor and the
presence of “my body” at work.
5. Given that textiles and mixed media often generate
residuals, how do you specifically approach sustainability
and work to minimize environmental impact in your artistic
practice?
In the work “All That Remains,” soon to be exhibited at my solo show at the
Alexandra David Neel Museum, I showcase all the threads I removed from
the pieces presented in this exhibition. Actually, the theme of “what remains”
and the connection between “destruction and creation” are at the heart
of my work. Not only to raise awareness about “residue and recycling” but
especially to illustrate two crucial concepts for me regarding disappearance
and time. I believe that nothing ever truly disappears, even if it is currently
outside of our sight, invisible to the eye, or even forgotten! I think we infinitely
retain everything we have experienced, seen, and felt. And I believe this
illustrates the circle of time, a more or less repetitive cylindrical movement,
a thought that believes in layers of consciousness and unconsciousness,
accumulating upon each other and transmitted from generation to
generation.
6. Get inspired!
INSTAGRAM: @golnazpayani
WEBSITE: golnazpayani.com
INTHEARTS | WINTER 2024 15