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Shahrzad Amin

Artist member since 2018
Oakville, Ontario

Shahrzad Amin is an Iranian-Canadian award-winning interdisciplinary artist with more than twelve years of diverse experiences as a sculptor, multimedia and installation artist, model designer, and potter. She creates socially engaging art pieces that invoke thoughts and encourage conversations about socio-cultural issues that surround us. Shahrzad makes original pieces that truly move people to feel intense emotions. 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, gender, and language. Her works highlight a social openness and necessity for global international connectivity, by applying the historical eastern architectural elements for overcoming cultural distances. She obtained a BFA from Tehran University of Art in 2010 and an MFA from OCADU in 2020.

Shahrzad recent collection titled "Witnesses" is inspired by statues known collectively as the "Tell Asmar Hoard" that are famous for having wide eyes and a sense of humble attentiveness.

The pristine simple design of her sculptures offers a vast space in which to expand our minds. We can see a deep innocence, and a compassionate gaze in their eyes that never forces us to venture too deeply into them, but rather leaves it entirely up to us as to how deeply we'd like to get lost in that innocent compassionate gaze. Furthermore, by sculpting Witnesses, she places herself in other people's eyes, feels their pain, sorrow, hope, joy, loss, and vulnerability; challenging her own belief system.


Work

Witnesses#21
  • Shahrzad Amin
  • 9" x 14.3" x 5.8"
  • $1450 buy — $73 try

Inside the Studio


Q+A

Why is art important to you?

Arts play a key role in presenting different cultures. Arts also could create or changes values in our society. Artworks provide information on how people interact with each other or how they express their emotions. By studying arts and art history we can achieve informative psychological, cultural, economical, and political information about each generation. Creating art pieces always helps me explore different aspects of my identity and culture.

What artists do you admire right now?

Kathe Kollwitz, Sia Armajani, Krzysztof Wodiczko

How long have you been creating art?

It's been more than 13 years that I work as a professional artist.

Why is it important for people to have art in their home or life?

I think everybody deserves to have at least one real piece of art in their place. The decoration of our home represents our lifestyle and our beliefs in our life. A real piece of art is unique, valuable, and it is a good investment. Buying authentic art pieces can support artists, and it would be a real help to preserve our contemporary art and culture.

Upcoming Exhibitions
0002-01-13

Toronto
Ignite Gallery

Select Past Exhibitions
2017

Ottawa, ON
FigureWorks 2017

2018

Mississauga, ON
: VAM’s 40th Annual Juried Show

2018

Toronto, ON
WONDROUS WAYS

2018

Toronto, ON
145 Ontario Society of Artists Annual Open Juried Exhibition

2018

Toronto, ON
57th edition of Toronto Outdoor Art Fair

2019

Toronto, ON
Living with Things

2019

Toronto, ON
Hidden Order

2020

Toronto, ON
Grad Ex 105 (Virtual exhibition)

2020

Toronto, ON
LOREM IPSUM - PART TWO (Virtual Exhibition)

2020

Wilmington, NC
Illumination 2020, Supported by Ontario Arts Council Exhibition Assistance Grant

2021

Los Angeles. L.A
12th Farhang Foundation Short Film Festival

2021

United Kingdom
First-Time Filmmaker Film Festival

2021

Hamilton, ON
Photophobia Contemporary Moving Image Festival

2021

Oakville
Connextions

Accolades
2017

Honorable Mention Award
Award

2018

Honorable Mention Award
Award

2018

Juror's picks award, 57th edition of Toronto Outdoor Art Fair
Award

2020

Artscape Launchpad Bursary Program
Award

2020

Exhibition Assistance Grant, Ontario Arts Council (OAC)
Grant

2021

Exhibition Assistance Grant, Ontario Arts Council (OAC)
Grant

2021

Research-Creation Grant, Canada Council for the Arts
Grant

Press
2018

https://nowtoronto.com/culture/art-and-design/2018-toronto-outdoor-art-fair
Now Magazine, “20 artists to check out at the Toronto Outdoor Art fair 2018,” by Fran Schechter

2018

https://www.designlinesmagazine.com/6-must-see-artists-toronto-outdoor-art-fair/
Designlines, “6 Must-see Artists at the 2018 Toronto Outdoor Art Fair,” by Toronto Outdoor Art Fair

2020

https://portcitydaily.com/arts-and-culture/2020/11/20/in-pictures-cameron-art-museum-opens-illumination-annual-lantern-exhibit/
Portcitydaily Wilmington, NC, “In Pictures: Cameron Art Museum opens ‘Illumination,’ annual lantern exhibit,” by Shea Carver

2020

https://www.starnewsonline.com/videos/lifestyle/2021/01/05/illumination-2020-cameron-art-museum/4143491001/
StarNewsOnline, Wilmington, NC, “Illumination 2020 at the Cameron Art Museum” by Wilmington StarNews

2021

https://oakvillenews.org/oakville-culture-and-lifestyle/seven-public-art-installations-bring-oakville-together/
Oakville News, Oakville, ON, “Seven public art installations bring Oakville together” by Mashaal Effendi

Residencies
2019

Florence, Italy
Florence Contemporary Residency

2021

Toronto, ON
Doris McCarthy Residency

Education
2010

Faculty of Fine Arts -Tehran Art University, Iran
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Sculpture

2012

Faculty of Fine Arts - Concordia University
Independent student, Sculpture

2020

Faculty of Fine Arts, OCAD University
Master of Fine Arts, Interdisciplinary in Media, Art, and Design

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