DRAWINGS BY TARAVAT TALEPASAND

Taravat Talepasand combines elements of traditional Eastern and Western art forms to explore conflicting Iranian and American mores. Using the stylistic language of Persian miniature painting and conventions associated with Early Renaissance painting, Talepasand takes these classical art practices, formerly used to illuminate historical or religious subject matter, and turns them to her own ends, injecting her personal history. While maintaining classical styles, she updates the imagery by depicting modern characters. Talepasand's narrative works, frequently featuring multiple self-portaits, come to terms with Iranian identity in an American context. Through a mixture of Islamic iconography and Western cultural references, Talepasand depicts the collision of tradition and modernity, of East and West.