Aïda Vosoughi

ARTIST STATEMENT
Aïda Vosoughi conceives her painting practice as being in close connection with ancient Middle Eastern culture and profoundly linked to its literature and traditional storytelling. Her artistic re-interpretation and novel conceptualisation of many of these classic stories allow her to revisit her native Persian culture in a contemporary manner. For some years, the tales of Kalila and Dimna have, in particular, inspired her. In this famous collection of ancient fables, the stories are told directly by various animal protagonists. In fact, these narrations relate directly to human relations and the political realities of power. Later on, what Aïda Vosoughi retained was mainly the idea of power dynamics in a metaphorical world. Recreating these dynamics artistically in an indirect manner was what became central to her artwork. It is closely related to a reading between the lines of literature commonly found in Middle Eastern classics. To this end, she notably integrates classical figurative approaches into contemporary conceptions of artwork. Her paintings often blur the frontier between abstract and figurative art or reality and fiction.