Meet the Artist

Shahrzad

Amin

Sculpture Installation, Video, Sound

“As an Iranian born artist, I am interested in the role that art can play in helping developing countries such as Iran to communicate and connect with the world art cultural and affective levels. Sanctions on Iran by developed nations make Iranian people socially and politically immobilized and disconnected from the rest of the world. Political and economic isolationism can impose fear and constant struggle on the Iranian people and have a wide range of negative consequences. Misperceptions, oppression from local regimes and negative representations from the rest of the world, being forced into exile from one’s homeland, and othering and alienation in other countries are some of the consequences of the sanctions.My goal is to use my art to alleviate cultural misperceptions about Iran as a country that represents alterity, threat, violence, and terror. Through interdisciplinary installations, I try to generate an alternative space that connects contemporary Iranian culture and various aspects of Iranian people's lives to the rest of the world despite/against boundaries. I want to reveal aspects such as aesthetics, history, and vernacular life, which are often excluded from politically charged audiovisual representations of Iran.I believe in the power of cultural referents in connecting people, since history and culture remind us of the links that were once there and have been severed due to various factors. Through my practice, I explore how artworks can reanimate cultural referents such as arch bridges to draw attention to their social lives as objects facilitating cultural exchange.

Profile Picture
Profile Picture
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Shahrzad Amin is an Iranian-Canadian interdisciplinary artist. Her interest in fundamental social issues such as democracy, human rights, equality, and migration has informed an art practice examining diasporic and socio-cultural subjectivities through the lenses of art practice, sensory ethnographic filmmaking, architectural design, and language. Her works highlight a social openness and necessity for global international connectivity, by applying the historical eastern architectural figures such as arch bridges as a metaphor for overcoming cultural distances. She obtained a BFA from Tehran University of Art in 2010 and a MFA from OCADU in 2020.
OCAD U - Graduate Studies
Interdisciplinary Master's in Art, Media and Design (MA, MDes and MFA)
Minor Transferred, 2020
Syn Studio Art School
Concept Sculpting in ZBrush
Minor Transferred, 2016
Concordia University
Sculpture 410 (Independent student)
Minor Transferred, 2012
Tehran Art University
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Sculpture
Minor Transferred, 2010

Sculpture & Installation Ceramics Mixed Media Art Video Editing Multimedia Teaching Sound Editing Mould Making & Casting Drawing & Painting Bronze Casting

2020, LOREM IPSUM - PART TWO (Virtual Exhibition)
Ignite Gallery,Toronto, ON
2020, Illumination 2020
Cameron Art Museum,Wilmington, NC
2019, Florence Contemporary Exhibition
The Open Gallery, OCAD University, Toronto, ON Toronto, ON
2019, Living with Things
The Open Gallery, OCAD University, Toronto, ON
2019, Hidden Order
The Open Gallery, OCAD University, Toronto, ON
2018, 57th edition of Toronto Outdoor Art Fair
Nathan Phillips Square, Toronto, ON
2018, Parallel World
Gozaar Art Gallery, Esfahan, Iran
2018, VAM’s 40th Annual Juried Show
Art Gallery of Mississauga, Mississauga, ON
2018, CO-
Graduate Gallery, -, OCAD University, Toronto, ON
2018, 145 Ontario Society of Artists Annual Open Juried Exhibition
John B. Aird Gallery, Toronto, ON
2018, WONDROUS WAYS
Arta Gallery, Toronto, ON
2017, Solo sculpture exhibition,
Queen Elizabeth Park Community and Cultural Centre, Oakville, ON
2017, 8th Annual Juried Show FigureWorks
St Brigid's Centre for the Arts, Ottawa, ON
2016, San Diego Comic con
San Diego Convention Center, Mattel/Mega Bloks, San Diego, CA
2015, New York Comic con
Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, Mattel/Mega Bloks, New York
2013, Tell Me This Isn’t Real
VAV Gallery, Montreal, QC
2012, Mapping Cultural Belonging
Vitrine Gallery, Concordia University, Montreal, QC
2012, Sculpture exhibition
Grover Building Gallery, Montreal, QC
2012, The 3rd Biannual Exhibition of Urban Sculpture
Barg Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2012, The 3rd Biannual Exhibition of Urban Sculpture
Barg Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2011, The Exhibition of Small Sculptures
Farvahar Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2010, The 2nd Biannual Exhibition of Urban Sculpture
Barg Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2010, Group Sculpture Exhibition
Shiveh Gallery, Shiraz, Iran
2009, The Seed of Baobab
Aaran Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2008, The 1st Biannual Exhibition of Urban Sculpture
Barg Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2020, Artscape Launchpad Bursary Program
Artscape Daniels Launchpad
2018, Above Grand Award
145 Ontario Society of Artists Annual Open Juried Exhibition
2018, Juror's picks award
57th edition of Toronto Outdoor Art Fair
2017, Honorable Mention Award
8th Annual Juried Show FigureWorks
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