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as an iranian-american woman in today’s political climate, i’m exploring my alienated connection to iranian culture. my father was born in tehran in 1935, and came to the U.S. when he was 25 in 1950. since then he’s been back to iran twice, and doesn’t live near any of his family. he married my mom through both being members of the baha’i faith in philadelphia in the 1970’s. she’s an italian-irish daughter of two deaf parents. so, while growing up my connection to iranian customs and tradition mainly came through my father and through being a member of the baha’i faith. my dad hardly spoke in farsi to me, except for the curse words, so when i turned 18 and left the house, i quickly felt the iranian part of my identity slipping away.

as a way to explore where it lies currently, i have started a series called iranian alliances. my closest connection to iranian culture is now mediated through the television, movies, and most of all the internet. to represent this connection, i have found images that represent memories and iranian friendships and trace them straight off of the computer screen to fully encapsulate that moment in time. the next phase is creating a series of portraits of iranian friends i have on facebook to explore friendships mediated through many layers.

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