BIOGRAPHY
Sara Shamsavari is a British Iranian interdisciplinary artist based in London. Her work has been exhibited internationally for over 20 years in museums and public spaces including Southbank Centre, London, Museo Bardini in Florence and the Lowe Museum of Art, Miami. Sara has taught around the world and regularly lectures at Central Saint Martins and Chelsea College of Art leading art history courses that explore social change, ethics and engagement through art. She also delivers regular talks and workshops in museums and public spaces including the V&A, The Royal Photographic Society Library, National Gallery and Tate Britain.
Born in the midst of the Iranian Revolution, Sara recovered from infant cancer while fleeing war in Iran and was granted asylum at the age of two in the UK where she and her family have resided ever since. Her early experience surviving warand her rich Iranian heritage and upbringing in the UK has shaped her perspective and continues to inform her artistic subject matter. Shamsavari explores themes of global identity, inclusion and transformation.
Several of her photographic projects centre around challenging stereotypes and common preconceived judgements based on labels including appearance, culture and religion. Her calligraphic paintings are inner reflections of her own journey and the ongoing trauma faced by refugees and minorities around the world.
Sara’swork has been widely published in books and media including Aperture, Guardian,New York Times and the BBC. In 2024 she was the recipient of the Pioneer 20 award in recognition of her empowering photographic work on identity. Shamsavari’s work sits in various significant public and private collections including that Museum of Contemporary Photography Chicago and NoVo Foundation New York founded by Peter and Jenny Buffet. Artist Yinka Shonibare (CBE ) also recognised Sara on the spine of a book in his “British Library” installation, naming migrants who have made a significant contribution to British culture.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I began painting at a very early age and when introduced to the photographic process at college I was impressed by the speed at which I could create an image. I was drawn to portraiture and photography as a medium that quickly allowed me to connect with others. For me photography was comparable to making a painting, fast. Being Iranian in the UK I was always strongly aware of how lens based media was routinely used to influence public perceptions, categorise, dehumanise and stereotype individuals considered 'non white’ or ‘foreign’.I was acutely aware of the huge disparity between a person’s nuanced identity and the reductive ways in which any person belonging to a minority group was represented. I began to make photographs of people with the hope to create space for different identities to be expressed in a way that was free from the misrepresentation and malignment that so many people feel that their identities are associated with, without their permission.
My photographic portraiture works form multiple series, each highlighting different concerns, but ultimately addressing identity as a source of expression, pride and defiance. I have focussed mainly on the experience of migrants in western cities. Together, they form a visual survey and celebration of individuals who fearlessly subvert narrow ideas around gender, race,orientation and faith.
Although today, there is greater understanding around all identities as nuanced and intersectional, and many individuals are now actively asserting authorship overhow they are represented, the issue of misrepresentation is still sadly widespread. Binary definitions that define people in simple reductive terms,narrow representations of beauty and the absence or misrepresentation,particularly of minorities within western culture are still ubiquitous.
In 2021 I returned to painting after a primary focus on photography for over 20 years. At its core, photography has allowed me to provide individuals with whom I feel a strong connection a platform to be seen and heard. I have done this with the aim of challenging and subverting narrow ideas around gender, race, orientation and faith and encouraging us all to look beyond the surface in a judgemental world. Whilst the two are related, conversely, my paintings look inwards. The act of creating these works has provided me with a connection to my heritage across time and distance, allowing me to process my experience of being separated from my place of birth. Within this process I am also reflecting on the heartache and struggle experienced by people around the world forced to flee their homes in search of refuge.
The series entitled Saffar (سَفَر) -meaning Journey is an exploration of a human experience that many who seek refuge struggle with - the comprehension and navigation of an unstable existence. Each artwork contains words in persian such as cycle, journey, connection, justice, duality, immortality and partition. These words are not always legible and are often obscured, drawing our attention to their absence. The largest pieces in the series form a triptych of circular tableaus. This format is inspired by Persian cosmology and echos the tableaus of Iran's past.The first of these tableaus isa deep lapis blue - paying homage to the precious stone that can be seen so prominently in Iran’s ancient artefacts. The blue also reminds us of depths of the sea and the painful journeys that many make across treacherous waters seeking safety. Entitled Gozashteyehmaa nejaateh mahst (گذشته ما نجات ماست ) loosely translated as Our Past is Our Salvation, this tableau reminds us of the important connection we have to our past as a means of mental and spiritual survival. The second tableau in black and gold Sahar ( سحر) meaning Dawn represents the triumph overdarkness in to the dawn. The contrast of black and gold is also inspired by theduality that many migrants live with. The third and final tableau entitled Aaghaazi djadid (اغازی جدید ) ,meaning A New Beginning is a malachite green representing theopulence, renewal and hope that nature promises.
All of humanity searches for clarity, stability, justice, safety and the definition of identity. Those seeking refuge find that their situations are continually transforming, almost as soon as they have been defined. The words in the paintings represent a struggle for definition in the absence of stability. The circular, gold leafed paintings, reminiscent of coins, are a visual representation of a different type of currency, and a concept I hope we can all aspire to - a world that values humanity over objects.
REPRESENTATION
Sara Shamsavari is represented by Ed Cross Fine Art
19 Garrett Street
London EC1Y 0TY
Tel: +44 (0) 7507067567
Email: ed@edcrossfineart.com