My on-going research from recent decades depicts women’s participation in art, poetry and warfare throughout history of Western and Eastern societies. My work is bound by my experience of living in exile from Tehran, the city where I grew up, in the aftermath of the Iranian Revolution. My original thoughts and interests have always been with stories of women that have to do with politics, culture, religion, and sexuality within repressed societies.
My stories of women are typically not been seen or explored visually. These retelling of experiences and visual stories translates a solid strategy and finding place for me as a woman. I am inspired by my internal dialogue with stories of female characters in Art, poetry, ritual performances, and historical photographs through different cultures. I find these stories powerful because they are not to answer all the questions. These stories allow me to open up a dialogue and let the audience own thoughts, feelings, and memories to flow and expand. This process of looking at time and place allows me to imagining the event. My research intend to let my audience perceive and interpret these women through their own specific personal lens.
- Afarin Rahmanifar on her works in About Time