10 Questions with Negar Pooya

Negar Pooya is a multidisciplinary visual artist born in Iran in 1971, living and working in Toronto.

She completed her Bachelor of Art studies from the Art University of Tehran in painting with honors and received a full scholarship to complete her Master of Fine Arts (MFA) Art University of Tehran. She completed her Master of Art with honors. She immigrated to Canada in 2000.

Her works engage a range of media, including painting, printmaking, photography, and digital art.

As a female artist, she tries to combine her personal experiences and emotional reactions with her knowledge of art to create a language through which societal issues are communicated. Light, emotion, and specific symbols play a strong role in her practice. Over the past several years, her practice has focused on themes addressing humanity, women's issues, the environment, and nature.

Her works have been shown in solo and group exhibitions in Iran, Canada, Japan, Romania, and the USA. Her works are included in museums and private collections, including the Contemporary Museum of Art in Iran, the Women's Edge Coalition in Washington, the University of Maryland Mobile Museum of Art, the Florean Museum in Romania & the International Museum of Woman in California.

www.negarpooya.com | @negar.pooya

Mind & Soul | Project Description

We live in a world full of insecurity, uncertainty, stress, tension, poverty, and instability. Life is full of repetitive routines and chores. This causes us to lose focus and be unable to perceive the realities surrounding us.

Mind and Soul is an ongoing project that started in 2020 when I immigrated to Canada. Women's issues are explored in this body of work. In these self-portraits, I explore the concept of self-reflection and character building as a way to reflect on my life and environment at this time. This project reflects my thoughts and shadows!

Being an immigrant woman who has lived through injustice, war, dictatorship, and revolution, I see the world differently from my window. Today's world is unsettled, and that's not as it should be. The news affects me regardless of where I am, whether I'm on the streets, at home, or holding my children's hands. Due to the destruction of my homeland, Iran, by an Islamic regime that kills and tortures its citizens for merely demanding basic human rights, my mind is always full of why questions. WHY WHY WHY? This collection of works was composed under the influence of women in societies where women are kept in lower social positions than men, and women are under severe pressure and are unable to express their thoughts and feelings.

I express my feelings through photography, painting, and printmaking. I believe photography goes beyond just capturing what's in front of the lens. It is my goal to create images of purely aesthetic and imaginative quality. My paintings explore life from my perspective; I use layers to create depth and complexity. I examine the world around me through the lens of my multicultural identity.

My art is a way to connect with others, finding similarities challenges, issues, vulnerability, and dreams. I hope this project communicates with the viewer and encourages them to pause for a moment and spend some time experiencing something that does not immediately stand out at a glance.

INTERVIEW

First of all, introduce yourself to our readers. How did you start experimenting with images?

My name is Negar Pooya; I was born in Iran in 1971, and I live and work in Toronto, Canada.
I am a multidisciplinary artist with over 25 years of experience; my works engage a range of media: photography, painting, printmaking, and digital art. As an immigrant woman artist, I try to combine my personal experiences and emotional reactions with my knowledge of art to create a communicating language. Over the past few years, I've focused on themes addressing humanity, the environment, and nature.
My works have been exhibited in solo and group shows in Iran, Canada, Japan, Romania, and the USA. Key pieces have been acquired by museums and private collections worldwide, including by the Contemporary Museum of Art in Iran, the Women's Edge Coalition in Washington, the University of Maryland, the Mobile Museum of Art, the Florean Museum in Romania, and the International Museum of Women in California.

How did you start experimenting with images?

My interest in art began at a young age. As a quiet child, I discovered myself in the world of art. Growing up, I lived under the brutal dictatorship of the Islamic regime. As a teenager in the 1980s, I was forced to wear hijab, and our dress code was the opposite of western fashion: ugly so as not to attract the opposite gender! The Islamic government removed subjects like history and poetry from our curriculum and replaced them with Islamic subjects. Everything in our school library was related to Islam. I attended an arts-focused high school where I found lots of interesting things that I could relate to, and I was always a top student. There was no internet back then, and very limited imports from abroad because of the Iran-Iraq war, so access to the art world was limited. Eventually, I was able to attend one of Tehran's top art universities, where we had an amazing library and good teachers.
I completed my Bachelor of Arts studies in painting with honors (1994) and received a full scholarship to complete my Master of Fine Arts (MFA). I completed my Master of Art with honors (1997) From Art university of Tehran.

Why are you an artist, and what is your artistic goal? 

The process of creating art gives me extreme joy and energy, and it is an important part of me, like my children, that I cannot live without. As an introvert, I use art to communicate with the outside world. The process is like a meditation for me, and it gives me a lot of satisfaction. It's like my religious practice. It gives me peace and help me to grow, encourages me to expand my knowledge.
I enjoy being able to execute the ideas that are in my head. I like to reflect and interpret what I see from my window. 
Creating art is a need for me, and I do it for myself, so I can feel alive. Over the past few years, I've focused on themes addressing humanity, female gender identity, and the environment around us. My goal is for my works to inspire curiosity, thought and dialogue, raise awareness, and communicate each positive step that can make our world a little better.

What is the main idea behind your work? What themes do you want your work to reflect on?

I usually work on several bodies of work at the same time. Many of my works seem to be searching for peace, which I believe comes from the experience of growing up under the brutal dictatorship of the Islamic regime and my experience of immigration. My work addresses issues of love, family, conflict, and gender inequality. I personally am a very happy person, and the inner child inside me is very active. I like to see hope and light at the end of the tunnel. Through painting, printmaking, and photography, I create a visual language to transcend the experiences of my inner world.
Over the past few years, I've focused on themes including woman's issues, and I have been deeply affected by the Woman Life Freedom movement in my homeland over the last few weeks. This theme is consuming my thoughts and my work right now. This Islamic dictatorship has tortured my generation for 43 years with its calamities and oppression. Nightmares have become a part of our lives.

What is your creative process like?

My creative process has been influenced by circumstances throughout my career. As an immigrant, moving from place to place, I had to adapt my process – using tools like photography and printmaking when my own studio was unavailable. When the Ukraine war began, I was away, working on a photography series, and my mind was occupied with war-related memories. My impression of war is reflected in that series of photos.
Since the Women's freedom movement has evolved in Iran, my mind has been there, and with the violence that I have personally witnessed. Right now, I cannot do anything else.

Where do you find inspiration?

As a sensitive person, my inspiration comes naturally from what is happening around me. These days I feel overwhelmed, almost with an inability to digest what is going on in the world. There are so many issues of race, gender, ethnicity, violence against women and environmental issues to contend with. This is what inspires me.

Is there any artist you particularly look up to? Any role model you would like to follow?

Over the years, many artists have had an influence on me in different stages of my life. I like expressive art like Motherwell, Basquiat, Giacometti, Zen art from Japan, and old Persian paintings. 
I always learn from others, and I'm influenced by poetry, literature, and mythology. My art practice tends towards a more expressive and poetic style. 

What do you hope that the public takes away from your work?

Creating artwork is part of my lifestyle and is my natural reaction to the outside world. I hope that people sense the emotion in my work. I hope that it resonates with viewers on a deep level that they may not even fully understand. 

What do you think of the recent experiences with art online? Did you have any success in promoting your art online?

When I was growing up, there was no internet, and access to the arts was limited. As a result, the freedom to view art from around the world with one click is very valuable to me.
I have had a number of exhibitions of my work, but my focus has mostly been on my life experiences of immigration and raising my children. While I have created work that reflects those experiences, I still have several series of works that have not been seen. I prefer to focus on exhibiting that work before showcasing it online.

What are your main career goals? How do you see your career evolving in the future?

Now that I have been able to settle into my own studio in Toronto, and my children are older, I have more time to focus on my art projects. One of my goals is to create public art that communicates with people on a daily basis in the public realm. I also have several projects related to themes around violence against women and female gender identity that I am aiming to display in public in order to raise public awareness. I see my career evolving further along those lines in the near future.