Art in the Community presents an exhibition by Rojia Dadashzadeh: Corky Monuments Series

Artist Statement:

I am an Iranian/Canadian artist (b. 1977, Tehran, Iran) who has a studio-based practice in Vancouver, B.C. I work across a range of media in painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, and collage. My practice draws upon multiple approaches from miniature to life size, allowing micro and macro visions to inform each other. Miniature pieces are a blueprint for the larger works, while those on a larger scale contain the intricacies found in the smaller pieces. This interaction between forms and scales creates a dialogue, suggesting a shared world and a multitude of perspectives.

I work through a reductive-like process in which I construct multiple small and abstracted parts, made playfully with a diverse range of materials, and surfaces. They are then assembled or composed together to form elaborate and more complex compositions and structures that elicit delight. My practice honours imagination as the prevailing human force that accompanies us in difficult times and leads us towards joy and hope. The playful rearrangements of abstracted parts tend to defy easy categorization and representation while revealing a story about both singular form and the whole.

Corky Monuments series began during the Pandemic when I became interested in the ordinary and the mundane. I began to merge discarded everyday objects and materials with more traditional sculpting materials. I was interested in assembling diverse elements, such as textures, colours, surfaces, and forms and the exploration of how subtle additions in shape, texture, colour, and curvature can evoke familiarity, character, personality and story.

Instagram: @rojia121
www.rojia.com