Afarin Rahmanifar
Afarin Rahmanifar, born in Tehran, Iran, is an Iranian American Artist, Educator, and Curator based in Connecticut. She holds her Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Connecticut and is currently Associate Professor at Eastern Connecticut State University, Art & Art History Department. She specializes in painting, mixed media, installation, printmaking, animated motion picture film, and Persian miniature.
Rahmanifar’s artistic vision originates from intersecting points of Eastern and Western culture. She understands her journey toward her present identity as an Iranian American woman through these concepts: “separation” from what one has been a part of and “belonging” to that which is different - “appearing” then “disappearing” then “reappearing” again. The intellectual and emotional parts of the self are changed through the act of Separation; the changed self belongs both to the past and to the present.
I grew up in Tehran and later lived in the United States in the aftermath of the 1979 Iranian Revelation. My work is an expression of my life’s journey as a woman, integrating Persian heritage and 21st-century western experiences. I take great interest in investigating women’s historic roles involving works of poetry to amplify contemporary women’s voice, power and Identity. The mystical tension, chromatic energy of Persian miniature painting, spiritual creatures, fragmented body parts, and poetic scripts in my work reflect the challenges I faced while adjusting identity in my new life.
I take my journey toward my present identity as an Iranian-American woman through these concepts: “Separation” from what one has been a part of and “Belonging”…to that which is different. “Appearing,” then “disappearing,” then “reappearing” again. I strive to show the female body as a vessel moving through this journey, taking in new experiences for the mind to process. The intellectual and emotional parts of the self are changed through the act of Separation; the changed self belongs both to the past and to the present.
- Afarin Rahmanifar, on her works included in Passages
