Everyday over the next few weeks, we will be highlighting the shortlisted artists for The 2022 Sovereign Asian Art Prize – the 18th edition of Asia’s most prestigious prize for contemporary artists. Selected from over 400 entries, the finalists hail from 16 countries and regions across Asia-Pacific. Of the artists, 27 are new to The Prize – appearing in our shortlist for the first time. Read on to discover more about our finalists, their key points of inspiration, and why it is important to champion the work of artists from Asia-Pacific.  

Azin Zolfaghari (Iran) was shortlisted for her work Density, embodying the complicated definition of “house”. Despite its seemingly objective clarity and simple framework, it is in fact a fluid concept that does not fit neatly into any physical form.

Can you tell us a bit more about your artistic process? How do you create the rich textures in your artwork?

The materials that I use to create texture in my work are actually the result of four years of research and experience and trial and error in the composition of various materials. ‏At first, the texture I created for my paintings was more thick, and over time I decided to reduce the amount of material on the canvas surface to make it easier to move the work and to prevent cracking or falling material.

‏Currently, the volume of materials I use on the canvas is as thin as one to two millimeters, and in fact more of the audience is exposed to a painted surface than a surface full of materials. ‏I mean, due to the darkness and lightness of the colors and the creation of cracks with my color, I get the desired result to create the texture in my work, which has the property of the two-dimensional.

Are your cityscapes inspired by real places, or do they come from your imagination?

The important issue in my paintings is the concept of security, and this security appears in the house and the four walls in my paintings. In fact, the house is a place where every person must have peace, a place resembling a baby in their mother’s womb. But if you look closely at my work, you will see a form of isolation, erosion and decline, which is the insecurity and power that has been overshadowed by the dominant and oppressive system over the city that brings passivity and isolation in the person. The images and compositions that I create in my works are in some cases mental and in some cases inspired by photos that I have taken with my camera. Some of the images are also due to the visual experience that when I go to the lower parts of the city in my mind is recorded.

‏But the arrangement of the windows in the frame of my paintings is intentional, mostly referencing the psychological feeling that is in the face of the city, or better yet, in the face of my own feelings against concepts such as suffocation, repression and social compression in the heart of city. My interest in creating a cement and gray surface in my paintings is actually in line with my situation. ‏I have been suffering from psoriasis for many years, which is a skin disease that causes damage, scaling and skin deterioration.

‏During the painting process, some kind of therapy is happened for me. By creating a lot of cracks and skins on the gray walls of my paintings, it actually conveys the annoying feeling that occurs in my physical physique to the surface of the canvas. This process helps me to experience better mental and physical moods. ‏In fact, there is a reciprocal feeling between my body, painting, and social and urban relations, which ultimately results in my artistic work.

Some of your works include people in the windows, while others do not. What is the significance of human presence in your work?

In most of my paintings, human beings have an absent presence, except for a few cases in which, if you have noticed, in all of them you encounter female faces. ‏Women who are enclosed in a window frame and have completely passively given in to that limited space. ‏This is a picture of the country in which I live, which, due to the patriarchal system and the domination of the ruling system of women’s society, have a lower presence in political and social relations and are deprived of many activities because of their femininity. By showing these women in a small area of ​​my painting, I actually wanted to show the small share of women in the urban system.

But then I came to the conclusion that I should remove the image of man from my painting and in return show the effects of human existence as a result. For example, by removing humans from my canvas screen, I replaced the curtains, fences, and nylons. In fact, my attempt was to portray a completely passive and soulless city that does not have the power to demand and instead surrenders to the integrity of the system and the ruling power.

‏A passive city with a totalitarian system that seeks to eliminate different ideas and opposing ideologies, which, with the legal leverage they impose, interfere in all areas of people’s lives and privacy and dominate it. ‏In fact, my paintings are a picture of a city that is constantly isolating itself.

How important is it to support the work of artists in Asia-Pacific?

I think these events are important because they primarily bring together works by artists from other parts of the continent. Through these group exhibitions, firstly, we find each other’s artists, and secondly, we can formally understand the socio-cultural and political themes of different societies and how this situation is from the artist’s point of view and the commonalities and intellectual and behavioral differences.

On the other hand, by focusing on Asian art at such an event, it is possible to keep oriental art, which has a rich history in art history, alive and show it to the whole world.

To vote for Zolfaghari’s work, click here. The most popular finalist will receive the Public Vote Prize and USD1000.

To register interest in purchasing Zolfaghari’s artwork, click here. Artwork sales will be launched in person and online during Art Central, from 26 – 29 May 2022. Proceeds will be spilt equally between the artist and our charitable programmes.

Want to learn about our other finalists? Tune in tomorrow for Boo Sze Yang’s interview. To read previous artists’ interviews, click here.