"Cool". Image Courtesy of Atusa Jafari.
When we think of the way a human looks, our brain automatically creates a picture based on visual memories of what our eyes can see. Though being human also incorporates every aspect of existence. It is more so a feeling which is hard to grasp and visualize in shapes. Artist Atusa Jafari lets the brush guide her to paint the emotions that come with being human. Her paintings often depict nude bodies that carry more substance than only colours put onto a canvas. Each work encapsulates the intricacies of life making the topic of Jafari’s work not about nudity but more so intimacy.
SLEEK met with Atusa Jafari to talk about art as a form of expression, desexualizing nudity and processing life by painting.
LEFT "My moon and my sun" RIGHT "Pond". Image Courtesy of Atusa Jafari.
"Tale". Image Courtesy of Atusa Jafari.
SLEEK: Your paintings carry a Baroque feeling yet the subject of your work seems very modern. What is your artistic approach?
Atusa Jafari: In my beginnings, I always looked up to artists like Rembrandt. Being inspired by past artists, I have found my own way of working. Every brushstroke I make has to be calculated. Even though my paintings look realistic, I like that you see a little bit of laziness in them. Also, I don’t want to add too many layers because I love the effect of the first moment.
S: How did you find your way to art?
AJ: At first I painted just for fun and then it turned into something more serious. It was really important to me to understand the classic techniques to get to know the medium and pay respect to it. Though now, I feel like I am more so letting go of that. When I grew up, I was never confronted with art, though I have always felt the urge to do something with my hands. I always had a lot of thought processes inside myself and did not have a chance to let it out. When I found my way to painting it was like my salvation.
S: Creating your art therefore also means sharing a piece of you. Does your art make you vulnerable?
AJ: There is a strong urge inside myself to produce work that comes from my inner core and is honest. The crazy part is realizing that other people will eventually see my art too which also includes me being naked. Not having that in my mind makes the whole process of producing art even more honest though the moment of exhibiting it is then always hitting harder.
"A flower for you". Image Courtesy of Atusa Jafari.
S: Does it scare you to be in the same room when people are looking at your art?
AJ: When you are doing things fully out of an honest standpoint, it carries a sense of naivety. You are not thinking about your work being judged and then it shocks me when people do. After some time, it gets easier to get used to it and it is fun to see what my paintings evoke in other people. For me, it is also fine if people don’t like my pieces, it all belongs to the spectrum of being human. Each feeling has the same value, it is our decision to put different weight onto them. Happiness and sorrow are both equally strong.
S: Nude bodies have been the main subject in a lot of your pieces. While looking at them you initially feel that they are painted from a female perspective. How does your work naturally carry a female presence?
AJ: Men are painting female nudity out of a very limited narrative. Only women understand the strength their bodies can bear. It is the body that can have children and withstand so much pain. At the same time, the female body is exposed to so many eyes and judgment even though it should provide a layer of protection. What we experience as women is automatically embodied by our presence. Strangely, I don’t even see nudity in my pictures. For me, it does not stand out since it functions as the whole part of existence.
S: Because your work does not focus on a nude body but a feeling.
AJ: Right now, I am moving further away from painting nude bodies. In the beginning, it functioned as my only outlet to create the feeling of intimacy though the more I am confronting myself with the subject, I have realized that it exists in so many different shapes.
LEFT "Hiding but not" RIGHT "Laded on planet earth". Image Courtesy of Atusa Jafari.
S: As the subject of your paintings is evolving, do you feel like you as an artist also taking a different direction?
AJ: You always see the artist behind the painting. In my case, I am a human that carries a lot of emotions. Sometimes I feel dumb and start to question my work because it makes me so vulnerable and exposes me to so many different people who may not understand it. But I often think about the world that I want to live in and the only way to make it come true is to show it; vulnerable, honest and soft. The strength of art lies in even only one person seeing that in your work. I could never do art in a different way, it is like my brush not even allowing me to paint anything else.
S: Does that mean only the brush guides you when you paint?
AJ: I think a lot when I paint. Not about the act of painting itself but about topics like my childhood or connections between people. That makes the whole process exhausting because it feels like a therapy session. Between different art pieces, I also need to take breaks and I am still trying to find the right balance in expressing myself creatively through other mediums.
S: Some works of yours also include self-portraits. Has the perception of yourself changed since then?
AJ: Yes, of course, I know every inch of myself which can also be difficult at times. You start to reflect more on the things inside yourself and the outer world. It is at the same time beautiful and interesting but you can’t help to see yourself in a different light. I couldn’t even say if it is a bad or good thing, you just simply gain sensitivity. Again it functions as a form of therapy because you learn to just simply see things and accept them.