The couple, inside
oil on canvas 20*30 cm
THE OUTSIDE AND THE INSIDE
The couple #2
Cardboard and watercolor on paper 13.5*17cm
While working on the piece “The Couple, Inside”, I was still thinking about the sofa. It is still there, but it is depicted from another perspective. In this painting, the intimate moment that the couple are sharing is the most important thing, and it doesn’t matter what’s going on outside.
In the background that I’m coming from, Iran, having sex with someone you’re not married to is illegal and you can get arrested for it. People that have non-marital sex in Iran have a similar attitude to the painting "The Couple, Inside". During their intimate and sexual moments, they ignore the outside rules and laws.
In "The Couple #2" which I made based on the painting “The Couple, Inside”, I am showing another point of view. Many Iranian youths choose to have non-marital sex, although it is against the law. The way I am depicting the couple in this artwork is how this topic is handled by the socio-political structure of Iran: these people and their needs are being ignored; instead, other issues are being bold that are not related to the matter nor help with anything. So when you look at this artwork, you can understand that a couple is having sex in the foreground, but I choose to give you detailed information about the window and not about the couple.
Study of the silhouette for The Couple #2
Pencil on paper 14*21 cm
In artwork "The Couple #2" I was deeply inspired by the talk Painting in the Expanded Fields by Geraint Evans (Evans, 2021). This talk challenged my ideas about what painting is and can be and motivated me to experiment more broadly.
