I Am a Magic Carpet: Mixed Media
Artist Statement
My artwork is very personal yet universal. It takes a critical view of social and cultural issues. Through my work I explore my post-immigration experiences and living in a liminal space. I am especially interested in how the gap between places and cultures, results in creating a third space and a hybrid identity that is a product of a liminal space.
With my art I re-create this liminal space and my hybrid identity, which is performative. This hybrid, performative identity allows me to function in this liminal third space.
My artwork I Am a Magic Carpet is a multi layered, multi media artwork. It is an intimate exploration of my post-immigration life. It examines the hybrid identity I developed as a result of departing from one culture and never fully arriving in another.
Six photographs—representing my metamorphoses from an Iranian immigrant into the “Magic Carpet”—are housed in an architectural-sculptural optical device reminiscent of oriental castles. The device gives physicality to the liminal space in which I perform my hybrid identity through staged photographs. I alienate myself from others, putting myself in a box and inviting viewers to peer through lenses, observing me as an exotic outsider.
I find inspirations in Iranian culture, art and architecture, mythology and literature. I always challenge myself how to tell my story as an allegory that invites viewers to reflect on the piece through emotional connection to my work.
Mazloom is an Iranian American artist. Her multimedia work explores her post-immigration experience and living in a liminal space. Mazloom received her MFA from University of Colorado, Boulder. Mazloom is especially interested in how the gap between places and cultures results in creating a third space and a hybrid identity that individuals bring to existence to better survive. Recently, the impact of the immigration has inspired her to produce a physical space that portraits her psychological landscape.
