How it began

It was in the corner of the yard where these all began . . .

Sahar Alizadeh’s passion for art has served as a guiding light, aiding her in overcoming a multitude of challenges in life. Since childhood, she found fascination in the realm of arts, exploring an array of colors, themes, forms, and mediums. With each stroke and hue, she weaves a distinctive narrative that captivates onlookers. As an artist, Sahar describes herself by her dedication to portraying contemporary themes that encapsulate the universal concerns of humanity, presenting an unconventional perspective on human possessions. Consistently situating herself in a corner of the world, she portrays the shared pains of humanity. One of the greatest blessings Sahar finds in being an artist is the freedom to think and live without restrictions—a facet of artistic life she cherishes the most.

What is behind these shadows

Through her paintings, Sahar Alizadeh reflects her inner self, expressing her thoughts and emotions. Each completed painting signifies leaving behind a fragment of herself embedded within the canvas. In Sahar Alizadeh’s artistic exploration, the focus lies on the interplay between the two-dimensional realm of shadows and the three-dimensional world we inhabit. She views shadows as almost monochromatic representations of our colorful existence, capturing fragmented narratives of familiar phenomena. Her artwork emphasizes the flatness of shadows, portraying them as reflections of material reality a gray world juxtaposed with an array of hidden colors expressing unvarying feelings in black and white. Through closed eyes and an open mind, inner emotions emerge, making her the painter of moments filled with silence and contemplation. Her compositions transition from figuration to abstraction, employing layered paint to convey emotional depth. Despite their serene appearance, these pieces carry restless messages, challenging perceptions and philosophies. Sahar’s intent isn’t always to convey something specific but rather to express her emotions, inviting viewers to play a crucial role in completing the narrative. Her paintings offer scenes reminiscent of faded memories or serve as mirrors reflecting the spiritual and metaphysical realms, occasionally delving into darker themes hinting at past memories. They invite viewers to explore inner feelings through suspense and mystery. With a limited view of the vast world, Sahar’s art encapsulates both personal and universal pains. Through her artwork, she intertwines the reality of individuals with the surreal, often incorporating shadows as metaphors. Each painting holds a unique story, challenging viewers based on their individual perspectives. Sahar often feels adrift in a realm of shadows, where figures and landscapes project their inner essence onto the world of shadows. Sometimes, she observes discrepancies in the sizes of shadows, realizing it’s merely a play of light sources, sparking reflections on perception and reality.

What shadows Convey

Shadows are the unreal realities of objects

In Sahar Alizadeh’s exploration, shadows emerge as intriguing entities, existing in a dual realm between tangible reality and ethereal illusion. As artists manipulate these two-dimensional dummies, shadows, a product of  architectural and urban structures, take center stage. Ephemeral and tranquil, shadows remain intangible, perpetually hovering between realms. Despite their constant fleeting nature, they persistently follow and surround us, elusive yet inescapable. While typically shadows facilitate the legibility of urban spaces, Sahar’s works diverge from this norm, emanating an aura of despair and wonder, almost estranged in their environment. In line with Kristeva’s notion that the foreigner resides within us, these enigmatic floating figures within Sahar’s artwork represent this hidden aspect of identity, gradually emerging from ambiguity upon closer inspection. For Sahar, shadows symbolize the unreal counterparts of humans, encapsulating the very essence of human existence. They act as magnifiers of souls, offering a unique lens through which to perceive reality. Shadows, unlike objects, can reveal what objects conceal, exposing their imperfections and offering a deeper understanding of the world around us. In essence, Sahar believes that studying shadows unveils truths beyond mere appearances.

True color of the shadows

In Sahar Alizadeh’s artistic realm, the interplay of dark spaces forms the primary essence, intertwined with one-dimensional, flat figures existing within a two-dimensional realm. Following the Dislocation Collection, which marked a significant phase leading to her solo exhibition, she introduced color into her compositions while maintaining the shadow theme at the core. Despite the occasional use of color, she predominantly leans toward monochro matic palettes, persisting in conveying the underlying themes of bitterness and deprivation within her art. In her recent endeavors, Sahar aims to encapsulate the world’s colors while retaining the essence of bitterness and conflict. The figures she employs, drawn from the past, often portray entities resembling creatures unfamiliar in their semblance to known animals. Additionally, her artistic vision frequently explores the portrayal of these creatures’ integration into the human world or the substitution of inanimate objects in place of human figures. This amalgamation of unfamiliar beings and the utilization of non-human elements within her artwork remains a consistent and thought-provoking aspect of her recent works.

Her Inspiration

How she visualizes her muses

Sahar Alizadeh finds immense inspiration in the works of Luc Tuymans, the Belgian visual artist known for exploring the connection between individuals and their history, often highlighting how this relationship is disregarded. Tuymans’ paintings deeply resonate with Sahar, evoking a sense of a personal world she yearns for. The dark, bitter atmosphere and the intimate dimensions of Tuymans’ artworks fascinate Sahar. She is drawn to the way his paintings convey personal and historical themes in a subdued manner, finding a captivating allure in their intimate portrayal, which sparks her fascination with his artistry.