Dara Aram
Biography
Artist’s Statement:
During my painting career, I have produced and experimented with figurative, abstract, landscape and installation techniques. The past subjects have included the Environment combining Children and Women’s oppressive struggles in various political situations.
Following my graduation from the Suleymani Institute of Fine Arts in Kurdistan, I studied at the Ontario College of Art in Toronto. I have recently attended the Artist-Educator Foundation Course at the Royal Conservatory.
In past works I have used mixed media to portray human rights events; various metals to create installations, photo montage and acrylic paints; sculpture materials to build life-sized figures; Thick layers of textured, acrylic paints mixed with gel provide the background for my subjects. My search for meaning in past projects has found hope and inspiration in the motifs of Mesopotamian history and mythology. Mesopotamia, from the Greek meaning “between two rivers,” also known as the “Cradle of Civilization, clearly maintains a vital and crucial place in the destiny of humankind.
My recent work is a continuation of the exploration of visual expression about the human relationship with others and with nature. These contemporary works reflect my daily views from my balcony overlooking the Toronto skyline….Mystical shadows and lines combined with the colorful sky formations and nature inspire these works….Watery images, dark misty horizons and whimsical forms fuel the soul’s imagination…Continuing with my former themes, I have incorporated abstracted forms of women in these recent paintings. The works are simplified, depicting three main layers of strata floating with splashes of abstracted forms found amidst the horizon lines, orchestrating the history and music of time and the ever changing environmental landscape.
Many of my most recent painting are inspired by my travels throughout Ontario and also by the views from my studio. The colorful landscapes and the beautiful light of the different seasons motivate me. I combine the abstracted landscapes with human figures. Every place I see creates a different mood and inspiration for my work. In these works, I depict how nature and the human form are inseparable.
Artists, since time immemorial, have conveyed their message with images rather than logical, linear statements. In this series, my new works in progress attempt to portray a journey into the imaginary realms of the unconscious. I hope that the mystical images, forms and environmental themes that are emerging in these paintings will serve as an inspiration to modern, industrialized man, who urgently needs to reconnect with his lost soul, a soul that lies languishing under the weight of our modern, cold, corporate world where profits and statistics reign supreme over the human spirit and the environment.