Parastou Forouhar Heals through Subversive Artwork

Following the brutal 1998 murder of her parents, Iranian intellectuals and activists Darius and Parvaneh Forouhar, Berlin-based artist Parastou Forouhar began her journey through grief with powerful subversive artwork. With her parents’ democratic fervor, Forouhar’s art explores issues from democracy to women’s rights to the devastating murders.

Through fluid shapes and soft, feminine colors, the beauty of these pieces draw you in and soothe you … until you become aware of the tragic scenes they depict.

From the artist:

When I arrived in Germany, I was Parastou Forouhar. Somehow, over the years, I’ve become ‘Iranian.’ This enforced ethnic identification took a new turn with the assassination of my parents in their home in Tehran. My efforts to investigate this crime had a great impact on my personal and artistic sensibilities. Political correctness and democratic coexistence lost their meaning in my daily life. As a result, I have tried to distill this conflict of displacement and transfer of meaning, turning it into a source of creativity.

Source: the Atlantic