From Tehran, Iran to the south coast of Massachusetts, Zara Shahi has been practicing fiber arts since she was a little girl watching her mother crochet.
Zara is now artist-in-residence at the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park. CAI's Gilda Geist spoke to her to learn more about her art and the unexpected ways it speaks to the history of New Bedford.
Gilda Geist Can I just have you start by telling us a little bit about yourself? Where are you from?
Zara Shahi I was born and raised in Tehran, Iran. My background is in textile design. I received my BFA in textile design in Iran, and after that I decided I wanted to expand my knowledge, so I applied to different universities across the U.S. I moved to the U.S. two years ago to pursue my MFA in fibers at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, and I just finished my second year, and I have one more year left.
GG Do you have a signature style or a couple of favorite pieces you could describe?
ZS My work moves between different mediums, like traditional crafts like weaving and papermaking, and more contemporary ways like photography and video. Through these different mediums, I think a lot about memory, identity and emotions that we carry with us over time and places. I'm drawn to delicate and translucent materials because they can show both strength and fragility at the same time. I mostly use the materials that can pass the light through them. I'm interested in light and shadows and when the light passes through a surface and reveals transparency, depth and fragility. And I think of shadow as a trace of something that was there before but is no longer fully present.
GG Can you tell me a little bit about how you got into art, textiles and fiber work?
ZS My interest in art, especially fiber art, started very early and very naturally. A big part of it comes from my mother and the home I grew up in. My mother used to crochet and make beautiful, delicate doilies and table runners when I was a child, and our house was full of her handmade pieces. I still remember watching her hands moving in these repetitive motions and seeing the care, the patience and attention she puts into every detail. So, I think for sure that affected me unconsciously, and it made me interested in fiber, in texture and delicacy. And even conceptually, I think it shaped my interest in translucency and light and shadow.
GG Tell me a little bit about what you're working on during your residency.
ZS I [am hosting] community workshops. Because weaving is my main medium, I wanted to share it with people who are interested in art, even if they don't have any experience. And also in Iran, weaving, especially carpet weaving, has a long history. It has often been connected to women's work, their patience and storytelling. So, for me, weaving, it's not just a technique, it's also a way to bring people together. So, for these workshops, I made a tapestry loom and I will invite people from the community to sit behind it and I will teach them how to weave. And two or three people can work on it at the same time. And by the end, it will become one large collaborative tapestry, almost like a painting, but with yarns and made by many different hands. I'm also working on a personal project. I'm using fishing line. So, fishing line is a material I've been interested because of its transparency and delicacy and connection to light. I also chose it because it connects directly to New Bedford's history of fishing and whaling, and for this project I'm making a woven tapestry. At the end, I plan to hang it from an old floor loom reed. New Bedford also has such a rich textile history with many mills in the past, and I wanted to bring all of this history together, weaving the ocean, fishing and the textile industry. I'm planning to make a short video of the ocean around New Bedford. I want to project that short video onto the woven fishing line piece so the lights and moving image pass through the material.
Zara's next weaving workshop is Thursday, June 11 from 5 to 7 PM. Her closing reception is June 27 from 5:30 to 7 PM and will feature the art Zara and the community made during her residency. Both events are at the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park.
