Artospective: Portrait Paintings by Maryam Foroozanfar from London.

Konjit

An Interview with Maryam Foroozanfar.

Who and where are you from?

I'm an Iranian-born, London based artist & Painting Tutor with a BA in illustration from the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York.

How you got into this?

I come from an artistic family and started painting when I was 15 years of age. After graduating from F.I.T., I took up a position as a web designer and continued painting for the sheer joy of it in my spare time. When I arrived in London, I tried my luck at entering the BP Portrait Award and the rest is history.

What is your driving force?

Painting light as it falls on & dictates form, expressing some form of shared human expression and emotion are my main motivations. Through all of the madness and greed we’re constantly bombarded with via media manipulation, we are all one.

Making art is how I maintain personal perspective and clarity; it’s a visual diary which also acts as a form of meditation. "The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls." - Pablo Picasso

What kind of work you do and why?

My interest in painting began with the love of capturing a mood or psychological state in the form of portrait painting. I am open to receiving commissions but I’m also transitioning, working on incorporating further genres and mediums. I’ll always embrace the challenge of capturing the human spirit, but there are many other avenues to explore. I’ve since branched out from the portrait-specific genre, currently exploring a more personal, themed-inspired series which reflect recent events in my life; love, loss, quiet moments of observation, and all the little things that glimmer just beneath the surface. The current series that I am working on will usually inform the direction and theme of the next to follow. I am always experimenting with techniques and processes in order to keep inspired, explore new possibilities in efforts to continually push forth and challenge myself with materials employed, and more importantly - subject matter; delving into that which resonates utmost. The result always reflects this present moment.