The Sprinkle of light
In their ongoing exploration of their dual identities, Farzanah and Bahareh Safarani join Roya Khadjavi Projects in celebration of International Women’s Month. Through their art, they invite their audience to join and empathize with the artistic journey they have traveled, leading to resilient, intelligent artists making work expressive of their changed reality. In their latest video portraits shown in Sprinkle of Light, billowing curtains gently fold and unfold, in turn hiding and revealing their world, luring the viewer in while nature’s winds dictate how much of the subject’s mind and reality can be known. As sunbeams surround the relaxed figure; eyes are wide open to the sun streaming through. Light surrounds her, as walls are colored with freely brushed colorwashes.
The open-eyed gaze of the depicted sister shows knowledge of all that surrounds her while knowing how much to keep to herself, and how much is still evolving, causing her to stay quiet as she prepares to rise and take an active role in her future world.
This is work where the past, present and future intersect. Although she rests and prepares for an active life, the curtain is already opening. The artist and woman is ready to emerge to take her place, show her inner beauty, her self-knowledge and strength as the motion continues to reflect the winds of change, propel them toward knowledge of self and revelation expressed through their art.
About the artists
Twin artists Farzaneh and Bahareh Safarani, born in 1990 in Tehran, Iran, where they spent their youth, now live and work in Boston, Massachusetts. Painting together since the age of thirteen, they formally trained under Tehran-based artist Farimah Farhatnia and earned BFA Degrees in Painting at the University of Tehran, College of Fine Arts and MFA degrees in Studio Art at Northeastern University, College of Art-Media and Design in collaboration with the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts. Having studied painting, performance, video, installation, conceptual art, and poetry, they have shown their collaborative work extensively in the United States, Iran and Internationally.
Recent solo exhibitions of their work include Breathing pictures, Adelson Cavalier Galleries, Palm Beach; Reincarnation, Roya Khadjavi Projects at Elga Wimmer Gallery NY; Sanctuary, Amalgam, Boston (2017–18); Safarani Sisters, Projecting Her, Adelson Gallery, Boston (2016) and at Gallery 360, Northeastern University, Boston. Recent group exhibitions include “If So What?”, Roya Khadjavi Projects, Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco (2018); The Salon in collaboration with the Peabody Essex Museum, Boston, MA (2017); Work by Pairs, Distillery Gallery, Boston (2017); Dualism, Abigail Ogilvy Gallery, Boston (2016); and Neither Here Nor There, Yuan Art Museum, Beijing, China (2016). They have performed at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston (2018) and at the Boston Calling Music Festival (2017). Their work has recently been acquired by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, The Peabody Essex Museum and by private collectors worldwide.
Planned future exhibits include The Safarani sisters Solo Exhibit at The Morris Museum, Morris NJ, presented by Roya Khadjavi Projects, Fall, 2021.
Artists: The Safarani Sisters
