Shirin Sahba - New Horizons: The Art of Wandering

For Naim, whose eyes are the colors of the Universe, & my tiny Mir, who always asks, Mama, can I touch this painting or is it still wet?

Copyright 2018 by Shirin Sahba.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

ISBN: 978-1-4521-6052-8 (epub, mobi)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available.

ISBN: 978-1-4521-6045-0 (hc)

Design by Kayla Ferriera
Typeset in Daddys Hand and Chalet

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I was born to Persian parents an architect and an artistin New Delhi. By the age of five, Id lived on three continents, with my family finally settling on the Mediterranean. Unable to return to their homeland due to religious persecution, my parents saw to it that I accompanied them to dozens of countries for work and vacation, instilling in me not a sense of belonging to any one particular place, but an identity as a citizen of the world. Itinerancy became a part of my identity, and I grew addicted to being on the move.

With a camera and sketchbook always in hand, I chronicled the beauty I encountered. The more I documented what I saw, the more my eyes opened to the expressions of different cultures and peoples and to their distinct approaches to honoring beauty. These new and exciting places revealed so many differences, but also so many similarities, teaching me that we are all of one human family. Whether wandering through a slum or the grounds of a palace, we are all walking the same earth. This is the verity that I aim to address through my art, by unweaving the subtleties of a shared human experience.

I first began painting about motion and travel when I heard the story of my grandfather, an adventurous pilot who died in his thirties in a tragic car accident while crossing Europe. I connected personally with his dynamic life by painting him on his many travels, but as soon as I began that series, my own motherhis daughterwas given three months to live, due to cancer. To process such sudden, devastating news, I began making paintings that explored the metaphor of her journey from this world into another. Through the experience of painting her premature departure from this world, I began to see the lines tracing my own journey. And while we often hear that the journey is more important than the destination, the journey of my mothers life and death imbued this adage with meaning. So often, life is a race to the finish, a relentless pursuit of the next big goal or milestone. But how can we pay homage to experiences as they unfold, regardless of outcome? How do we value the beauty in the everyday journeys we all pursue?

The more I examined these sentiments, the more I turned to my own travels, past and future. I looked to both ancient and modern arts for things unexpected and exquisite. My eyes widened at the sheer amount of beauty hidden in plain sightin dusty markets in Africa, antique collections in India and China, traditional artisan villages in Bali, and the work of countless artists in Cuba and Spain. I marveled at the potency of colors and patterns to evoke emotions, nostalgia, and memories. These are what I want to express in my art.

With my paintings, I aim to weave a narrative of travelers with no specific destination, elevating the journey itself. Inspired by my travels, a delight for old cinema, and my roots in the old Persian art of miniature, I simplify the traditional landscape into an abstract plane of color and pattern. Figurative characters and architectural elements unify the abstract with the representational. The characters freely traverse surreal landscapes of floating color fields. They are from everywhere, and simultaneously from nowhere, traveling across expressions of beauty inspired by every culture and place. Lost in telling their stories, stirring memories, dreams, and longings, this is where I feel most at home.

In Bali and its glittering surrounding islands, I was taken by the traditional art of batik, with all its meticulous vividness.

Flowers are a serious business in India.... You will often see women walking through crowded streets carrying the most beautiful baskets of flowers, perhaps gathered for a sacred ritual or for garland-making.

The lotus is a meaningful flower for me, as I was born while my papa was building a marble temple in Indiaopen to all peoplethat resembles a lotus. It is, after all, considered a profoundly pure and spiritual flower in many regions of the Far East.

In villages across Thailand, you might see small spirit houses placed outside of family homes. They are decorated with bright colors and shimmering gold and are often laden with fresh offerings. Magnificent and much larger temples glitter on distant hills.

My nostalgic memories of summers spent in Italy include the smell of fresh espresso with biscotti and watching Sophia Loren and Claudia Cardinale movies with the family.

On the shores of the Mediterranean, how pleasant it is to bask in the beauty of the shimmering turquoise water and the colorful array of people shaded by their equally colorful umbrellas.

Sometimes we find the most unexpected friends on the journey of life.... I find the exquisite courtesan dresses of the Mughal Empire, with their transparent layers, to be still so fresh and modern.

This painting reminds me of my mama, who, no matter what the conditions, time, or country, would always grab an armful of flowers before heading off to visit someones home.