In this season of political, financial, and social polarization on a national and territorial scale, artists can incite real correspondence, compassion, and understanding required for an agreeable future. Artists can empower coordinated effort and a feeling of shared knowledge between individuals in spite of our clear contrasts. It might offer new methods for critical thinking that sidestep conventional methodologies. While art might be an essential key to the strength of our

A CONVERSATION ON RACE & IDENTITY” AT LH HORTON JR GALLERY February 22 – March 16, 2018 Artists’ works explore topics from their personal cultural heritage, and how socially constructed “realities” have shaped and often misinformed our perspective of various ethnic groups. Works also speak to significant cultural traditions, such as the textile Japanese fishing jacket by John D. Konno. In addition, works are also derived from culturally based literature, such as the beautiful

I was born in Tehran, Iran in 1985 in the middle of the Iran- Iraq war and during the huge political changes in the country. I grew up with poetry and stories that my parents were reading to me to keep me calm and avoid the stresses caused by the war. One of my favorite stories that my dad was readying to me was about a bird named Simorgh. Simorgh is a mythical bird in Iranian mythology and literature, which is repeated in two important literature books of Iran Shahnameh (The

I spent around 2 months in Britain around summer 2010. In a typical rainy day of London, I got an invitation from a British artist to draw a mural work on one of their site. I’m not an expert in London locations; however, I joint them somewhere around Oval station in South London. I worked on this mural project for a day. During that day I was with one of the best Iranian photographers Mohsen Shahmardi who was responsible for video recording and photo shooting. This is a Pers