Farideh Lashai

Farideh Lashai was born in 1944 in Rasht. She is considered one of the most important modern and contemporary Iranian artists. In addition to visual arts, Lashai has written novels and worked as a translator. Her successful experience in writing books, especially her autobiographical historical novel Shal Bamu (Silk Shawl), demonstrates her profound understanding of rhythm and dynamism in writing. This book narrates a personal history that transitions into a collective and social history, particularly focusing on the years after the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the subsequent emigration of many Iranians, including Lashai herself. In the realm of visual arts, Lashai is best known for her paintings, although she has also created sculptures, fabric and crystal designs, and video art. It is worth mentioning that Lashai's experiences in video art occurred in the final years of her life. These videos are connected to her paintings, indicating Lashai's inter-media expressions. Lashai's paintings reveal her inseparable connection with nature: her concern with nature is not about inspiration or representation, but rather about harmony with nature and living within it. Thus, Lashai, moving beyond the figurative layer of nature that can be represented both in the mind and on canvas, and contrary to the idea that nature is sometimes an object abstracted from culture, views nature in painting not as an imitation but as a container with all its hidden and harmonious angles, angles that are dynamic and moving. The artist's own life is also a reflection of this dynamism and movement. Therefore, Lashai's dynamic study and search are not confined to the level of figurative or abstract painting but extend to a broader level, exploring the manner in which humans in general, and painters in particular, connect with nature and live within it. Considering the aforementioned, Lashai has always been on the boundary between verbal and non-verbal media, utilizing both for expression. Her expression in the realm of video proves how painting can maintain a contemporary and up-to-date discourse through the use of other media. Lashai transcends the boundaries of media to demonstrate how, sometimes, the mode of expression, like contemporary life, is fragmented, layered, and disconnected.

Sohrab Ahmadi