About my art

Art Style

My art represents the history of the world for my generation of Afghanistan. People, religious organizations, governments that put in their effort to rescue my parents from Afghanistan, the beauty and the great ideologies my family kept for centuries, and the cultures that surrounded me all influenced my eyes to see the world from different points of view.

Since I was born and raised in Japan, my core art training is in the traditional Japanese art that surrounded me. Including their art history all the way to their anime in modern times which is greatly respected in Japan. Colors are both vibrant primary colors and soft pastel colors. Techniques are heavily focused on and training for brush strokes for control that can only come from the heart was taught to me for years in calligraphy.

Watercolor:

I use intensity in colors with meaning and stories to draw the viewers into my canvas. The viewers’ eyes will be guided throughout the canvas, eventually leading to see the details in the fore subjects as well as in the background.

Chigiri-e (Paper Art):

I create paper art (chigiri-e), which is using Japanese handmade origami paper (mulberry paper), and glued onto paper board canvas. Finished look seems as if they are paintings.

Hanga (Woodblock Ink Print):

I was trained for Hanga, sometimes known as Ukiyoe, Japanese woodblock ink method. My expressions, characters and overall balance of negative and positive space in my art to create a mood to draw the viewers in was highly commended by the art critics in Japan.

Ceramics:

I create ceramics from the years of training in tea ceremony I received since I was 8. They focus greatly on Japanese pottery history and the importance of wabi sabi zen. I received a college scholarship for my ceramic art of Buddha in the US. My title was peace among all religions. I emphasized the calmness from the Buddha’s smile, and how peace is golden by painting the ceramic art in shiny gold before baking.

Oil Painting:

I majored in oil painting throughout high school in Japan with a focus to learn from European art techniques, and my last oil painting was also showcased in the Museum of Art in Japan.

Acrylics:

For art that I would like to complete faster, I use acrylics. I enjoy the vibrant colors to share with the viewers the world I see. To see beauty in vivid colors used in art is shared both in Afghanistan and Japan. My house was decorated in traditional Persian and Afghan designs, and the appreciation of the details in art I could see both inside the house and outside in Japanese society such as wooden buildings, temples and shrines, small modern detailed designs.

Oil Pastel:

I like to mix my own colors. I love to be able to get close to the canvas with my hands and fingers, and oil pastel has been my favorite medium since I was a child. The flexibility of lines, colors, and manipulation of fine details to effects are what I focus on in this medium.

I use many different methods, based on what I think is best to be used to portray the subject matter, and I enjoy them all.