1. How did you get into your field?
I vividly recall the moment I discovered my love for painting at the age of 7; all I desired to do was immerse myself in a world of color pencils and papers instead of toys. Throughout my childhood, I found joy in drawing and painting, prompting my parents to enroll me in art classes. As I grew older, my passion for painting deepened, and by the age of 13, I began to take it more seriously. It was during my pursuit of a bachelor’s degree at university that I made my decision to become an artist. I felt irresistibly and naturally drawn to this path, sensing that it was my true calling. For me, painting is not just a hobby—it’s a source of fulfillment and purpose in life.
2. Who or what were influences to your growth as an artist?
I would attribute my artistic journey first to my family; the supportive environment in which I grew up played a crucial role. Additionally, all the teachers I had the privilege to work with exerted significant influence on my artistic development. As I matured, I began to perceive life through a visual lens, striving to find beauty in every moment. This perspective led me to the decision to immigrate to the United States, seeking to enrich my artistic path by immersing myself in a new environment and learning from diverse cultures. Each moment in my life becomes an opportunity to learn and draw inspiration, fueling my artistic growth.
3. What does facilitating access to art experiences mean to you?
As I mentioned earlier, I learned a great deal from my teachers, who played a crucial role in nurturing my passion for art. Their ability to make learning enjoyable undoubtedly contributed to my journey as an artist. I now feel compelled to pass on that same sense of joy and inspiration to others. If I can positively influence even one student and help them grow as an artist, I believe I would have fulfilled a meaningful purpose in my life.
4. What is something you would tell someone considering going into the arts?
Choosing to be an artist is a rewarding path; it offers a space for freedom of thought and expression, where one can embrace mistakes without fear. I believe in educating oneself through learning from peers, delving into art and its history through literature, and applying newfound knowledge to your work. Drawing inspiration from the simple thing of everyday life—air, clouds, friends, or trees—infuses meaning into our existence through art. However, the reality of being an artist entails challenges; facing rejection, enduring harsh criticism, experiencing failure, and struggling to sell one’s work can be disheartening. I’ve encountered these challenges myself. Yet, every morning, I affirm to myself that I am content with my choice of being an artist, I chose to see beauty, I chose to be free.
5. Answer of your choice.
I work collaboratively with my twin sister Bahareh Safarani and together we form The Safarani Sisters. We are interdisciplinary artists and identical twins, explore the convergence of visual art, new media, and performance. We have been on a creative journey since we began painting at the age of thirteen. We earned our B.A. degrees in painting from Tehran University and moved to Boston to pursue our master’s degrees at Northeastern University. Renowned for our signature “video-paintings” overlaying choreographed movement onto figurative oil-on-canvas works, our fluid approach has gained national and international acclaim in solo and group exhibitions and art fairs around the US (e.g., Boston, New York, San Francisco, and Florida) and abroad (e.g., Paris, London, and Beijing, Istanbul, Dubai). Our collaborative exhibitions have received extensive promotion and press coverage, including features by NPR, The Boston Globe, and WCVB Channel 5, among many others. Moreover, nine of our major art pieces have been recently collected by prestigious institutions such as the Museum
of Fine Arts Boston, The Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Morris Museum in New Jersey, Akron Museum of Arts in Ohio, Tank Shanghai Museum in China, and Accor Academy in Paris.
We’ll be highlighting staff and faculty artists through out the year. Farzaneh Safarani teaches workshops at the New Art Center. Her next class is Paint Like Kadinsky!
