Nakisa Dehpanah is an interdisciplinary artist based in Seattle, WA. She grew up in Iran and moved to the US in 2016 to pursue her Master of Architecture and Master of Sustainable Environment at Iowa State University. She spent most of her childhood hiking and backpacking with her family in the northern mountains of Iran. Nakisa's artwork is heavily influenced by her connection with Nature and her cultural roots. Farsi Literature, calligraphy, and dance are among the perennial sources of inspiration in Nakisa’s research-driven work.
Nakisa’s practice is constantly evolving as she experiments with different mediums and disciplines. As a designer, she is persistently looking for bottom-up solutions to create sustainable and resilient designs that faithfully reflect and preserve the stories of the communities they serve. As an artist, she ambitiously looks for ways to tell her story and illustrate her ever-evolving inner world on her spiritual journey.
Ultimately, Nakisa’s mission is to re-interpret cultural narratives using diverse media and express them in different forms and different places in the hope of fostering empathetic connections and promoting resilience and inclusivity within communities.
Rebel is a narrative of emancipation that unfolds through the dynamic synergy of references to visual art, architecture, and dance. It embodies a spiritual state where entities break free from their confines to discover their authentic selves. The inspiration for this project was the acclaimed collection of poetry titled Rebellion by Forough Farrokhzad, an Iranian contemporary poet who used the power of words to protest against the restrictive laws imposed on women and their societal roles under the dictatorship of Iran’s government.
Comprising nine pieces ranging from geometric to freeform, the fabric structure signifies the transformative process individuals undergo when breaking free from their assigned constraints. The fabric utilized in this piece represents the skin of a person or a society, which begins to rupture under the pressure of contained voices that are outgrowing their established structures.
The holes incorporated in the structure are meant to be reminiscent of instances of rebellion in the natural world where plants emerge from the ground, water carves its way through rocks, and volcanoes erupt. This metaphorical exploration connects the process of artistic creation to the powerful forces found in nature.
The performance component of Rebel ends with the projection of organic lines and fragments of calligraphy derived from the Farrokhzad’s poem onto the transforming fabric structure; these organic forms perhaps signify ideas that can grow out of a renewed fertile source. To complement the visual elements of the piece, the choreography is set to an improvised musical composition by Ali Alizadeh. This musical component rooted in the artist's hometown adds a layer of depth to the piece and creates a harmonious connection among all the elements of this multifaceted work.
Presented Installation:
Rebel, 2023
Price available upon request. All inquiries should be directed to info@vivaalliance.ca.