Katayoun Amjadi

Craft

 

Many of my projects work with reclaimed artifacts from various cultures. While the original object or artifact signifies its use and historical lineage, when placed in the new context it begins a different, evocative trajectory of meaning and associations. A memento is an art object that once removed from the context of an art gallery installation, become something other than what it was before: a trophy, a souvenir, a collectible object. I believe that the stories embedded in objects and their associations can be treated in the same manner we do words when writing poetry, or notes when composing music. It carries with it fragments of the original story and meaning, yet both are re-shaped by the experience of its new owner. Its story thus unfolds.

Vessels
Decorations
Misfits

Statement​

I work primarily as an installation artist. In my work, I seek to draw on multiple cultural histories in ways that explore ideological limitations, and investigate broader global concerns including identity formation, diaspora, nationalism, history, memory, borders, safety, the comfort and unpredictability of home and world, and the poetics of creative expression; synthetic, hybrid, and vital. 

As artist and maker I believe in the latent power of objects to speak. They are embedded with the history of their origin, making and culture. They can carry multiple associations yet also personal and collective meanings as signifiers of a place, time or memory. They are fundamental to my research, indeed they are the structural syllables of the language of my practice.


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