Hello, I'm Shohreh A.

I am a self-taught artist based in southern California. For as long as I can remember, I was enthusiastic about drawing. As a child having access only to pencil colors, I expressed myself through drawing developing a passion for arts. Growing up in Iran, where freedom of expression was very restricted, experiencing war and various other traumatic experiences, the call of artist grew inside me. My paintings usually start from a dream image formed in the state of hypnagogia or hypnopompic at a subconscious level. However, my creative process is completely unplanned and when I seat in front of the canvas, I read the life of the canvas and the painting always takes the life of its own and develops as I pour my heart into the painting and immerse into it. The resulting painting usually carries the same emotion experienced at the dream image, though it is a different image moving along the border between abstract and expressionism. In my artwork, I use acrylic, watercolor, and mixed media painting. I use various elements such as fiber, gold treads, gold leaves, textile, etc. I create my paintings across multiple styles and I try new techniques and approaches that help me express my emotions. My art explores the formation of life on earth and its transformation through millennia and the connection that we still experience with our ancestors and nature. I view our connection to nature as biological and spiritual. My art also explores the transformations each individual experiences from birth to death and the connection each of us experiences to nature and the past. Having a Ph.D. in physics, I am in awe of the complexity and beauty of our universe. I am also constantly challenged and inspired by the conflict between objective sciences and human consciousness and experiences.