Yasmin Etemadi

Our identities are defined at birth and continue to evolve throughout our lifetime, depending on where and how we live and the choices we make. Culture and geography determine our identities as much as our own intuitive senses. My dual identity has been a daily fact of life, something that I have lived with since I was twelve years old, when my family moved from Iran to America. In the past two decades I have assimilated and adopted the American culture as ¬my own and consider myself Americanized. Mostly, my dual cultures have been able to co-exist harmoniously, even seamlessly. I speak two languages and have incorporated the best aspects of each culture into my life. The events of September 11th 2001 drastically changed this balanced co-existence and caused a re-evaluation of my identity. In the past several years I have confronted a resurgence of unresolved feelings that had been buried inside of me since childhood. Along with these feelings a new sense of fear and anxiety has emerged in regards to my future here in America.

These mixed-media collages are an attempt to describe the struggles with my own abstract identity; an Iranian-American woman living in the post September 11th society in America. In these collages, the physical reconstruction of the photographs into new landscapes becomes symbolic of the emotional reconstruction of my two selves. Paranoia, anxiety towards the future, nostalgia and confusion are some themes that are explored in this body of images. What emerges from this reconstruction is a tenuous and new identity, waiting to take shape.

EDUCATION:

2005-PRATT INSTITUTE, MFA

1995-UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, BFA

AWARDS:

2008- JURY PRIZE AWARD, All Media Show, Irvine Fine Arts Center.

2005-OUTSTANDING MERIT AWARD,Pratt Institute.

2005-OUTSTANDING ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AWARD, Pratt Institute.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS:

2006-ARNOLD, Solo exhibition at Arnold, New York, NY.

2005-STRANGER, MFA solo exhibition at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY.

1995, HANDS ACROSS THE GALLERY - BFA solo exhibition at Slusser Gallery, Ann Arbor, MI.

GROUP EXHIBITONS:

2008-FEAR II, Group exhibition at Projekt 30, www.projekt30.com

2008-ALL MEDIA SHOW,Group exhibition at the Irvine Fine Arts Center, CA.

2008-AFTERMATH, Group exhibition at the Target Gallery, Alexandria, VA.

2007-SHORT HOUSE,Group exhibition at the Short House alternative space, Los Angeles, CA.

2007-EMERGENCE, Group exhibition at the Current Gallery, Baltimore, MD.

2007-CHANGING CLIMATE, CHANGING COLORS, Group exhibition at the Abron Arts Center, New York, NY.

2006-BROOKLYN UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL, Group exhibition at the Brooklyn Underground Film Festival, Brooklyn, NY.

2006-VIDEO SLAM, Guest lecturer at the School of Visual Arts, New York, NY.

2006-BEARINGS, THE FEMALE FIGURE, Group exhibition at the PS 122 Gallery, New York, NY.

2005-ENDLESS GALLERY, Group exhibition at the Endless Gallery, Shanghai, China.

2005-MEDITATING AMERICA, Group exhibition at the Center on Contemporary Arts, Seattle, WA.

2005-HARLECH BIENNALE,Exhibitor at Harlech Biennale, Harlech, Wales, U.K.

2005-FOUNDATION,Group exhibition at Gallery Boreas, Brooklyn, NY.

2005-MFA ANNUAL EXHIBITION, Group exhibition at Pratt Institute, New York, NY.

2005-NOHO ART WALK,Group exhibition sponsored by NOHO, NY.

2004-PAL SHOW, Group exhibition at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY.

2003-MOTION, Group exhibition at Cascades Photography Gallery, Issaquah, WA.