About "Wearing Happiness" by Shoora Majedian

mixed media on paper, 2019, 11x14 inches

It's the in-between moment of two stages, before and after makeup. The moment that we don't care what we look like and have the highest attention to what we do. That instant and facial expression is the most truthful version of ours, which I find extremely fascinating.

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Shoora Majedian received her MFA at Emily Carr University of Art and Design. She received a Post-bacc in Painting and Drawing from SAIC in Chicago and MA from Tehran University. Shoora has participated in many national and international exhibitions in Tehran, Chicago, Toronto, and Vancouver. Her current painting research is focused on accessing her childhood memories as a reference for painting. This way of constructing an image gives her a chance to depict individual and collective narratives that carry metaphor and poetry. These auto-ethnographical images juxtapose the survival modes during the eight years of war between Iran and Iraq with a combination of horror and laughter. In the challenge between frustration and fascination of accessing memories, she can find the in-between moments of doubt and assurance. This immersion is not only in the formal investigation of color choices and mark-making but also in the cultural tradition and religious beliefs. The ordinary moments that have always been depicted with significance in European and American history, in this series describes the routine of a Middle Eastern country during their consistent crises in life.