Behnaz Fatemi is an Iranian artist who moved to Canada in 2018. She graduated from the University of Guilan, Iran, with a BFA in painting. Fatemi is doing her MFA in studio arts at University of Waterloo. She is an interdisciplinary artist who works across various mediums and techniques, mainly in drawing, sculpture, video, and installation. She investigates the deep connection between humans and their behaviors. This investigation is an answer to her question of how human sensibility interconnects with topics such as society, politics, religion, personal beliefs, and the like.
Fatemi's work has been exhibited in group and solo exhibitions throughout Iran and Canada. She was the 2020-2021 Kitchener Artist in Residence, working on immigrant- and immigration-related themes. In the same year, she was one of the members of the Art$Pay Artist in Incubator program supported by the Region of Waterloo. In November 2020, Fatemi received Arts Awards Waterloo Region in the Emerging Artist category. She has also received several grants for her projects; in particular, Fatemi has been awarded the Region of Waterloo 2023 Art Funds for her proposal to study the lived experience of immigrants and newcomers in oppressive regimes.
Work by Behnaz
My art practice is a reaction to sociopolitical events focused on human rights, social justice, and freedom of expression. This is due to my lived experience under an oppressive regime back in my birth country Iran. Immigration to Canada in 2018 has added new perspectives to my worldview, driving me to think about how oppression and expansion of human rights, social justice, and freedom within Canada and abroad are interrelated.
In this regard, the intention behind my artworks is to promote a greater understanding of injustice, suffering, and inequity. I hope to shed light on the experiences of those who live under oppressive regimes and to raise awareness about the importance of protecting civil rights and social freedoms. Both formal and conceptual aspects of my artworks can be seen as presentations of the way in which oppressive regimes construct and control reality for their citizens. They also symbolize the individual experiences and perspectives that exist beneath the surface.
My artworks encourage audience to question the dominant narratives around these social issues and to explore alternative perspectives. They can be seen as a critique of the ways in which social norms and power structures shape our understanding of reality. By highlighting the experiences of those who live under oppressive regimes and raising awareness about the importance of protecting civil rights and social freedoms, I encourage the audience to actively participate in the construction of a more just and equitable world.
Performance
The performance was developed during the Women, Life, Freedom movement in Iran and mass murder of protesters. The video is presented from a Pyramid-shaped sculpture with embedded projector and showing the video performance on the floor. In this recorded performance I am rubbing my body on the cement floor while thinking about the news, showing the extreme pressure that I had.