Ziba Rajabi

Working primarily with painting, drawing, and installation, Ziba Rajabi reconciles her relationship with where she comes from, Iran, and where she currently resides, the United States. She draws inspiration from Iranian architecture, book art, and Persian calligraphy to inform her compositions. In this series of works collaborated with Amilado Press, through watercolor monotypes and monoprints, she created prints, employing verses from Pop songs by Iranian female singers who lived and worked in exile after the 1979 revolution. The medium of printmaking metaphorically adds another layer of distance, while art and music bridge this gap and shorten this distance. During the 80s and 90s, the Islamic regime banned pop music, and the only art and music allowed were war propaganda. The only sources of Iranian dance music that would bring joy to birthdays, weddings, and parties were the smuggled tapes and VHS from Iranian artists in exile. Growing up in that era, she owes the happiness of their festivities and parties to these artists in exile. These works are an ode to them.