Artist Statement – Jamal Tabasinejad
for the exhibition “unearthed”
May 18 – July 21, 2024 | Art Gallery at Evergreen
As an artist born in Tabas, Iran—a region intimately shaped by the desert—I have long been drawn to the textures, forms, and silent strength of adobe architecture. This exhibition, unearthed, is the result of a deep and personal journey to explore how the material culture of the Iranian desert can be translated into contemporary visual language.
Adobe, with its sun-dried bricks and ancient engineering, is not just a construction method—it is a testament to human adaptation and aesthetic intelligence in the face of environmental extremes. In British Columbia, where the climate is vastly different, adobe structures are rare. Yet, their essence—resilience, warmth, impermanence—resonates universally.
In this exhibition, I join forces with ceramic artist Mitra Mahmoodi to reflect on the architectural language of our shared heritage. My paintings and mixed-media works in unearthed focus on visual memory—how place, time, and form etch themselves into the soul. These pieces are not direct illustrations of adobe buildings, but rather impressions—fragments of memory, layered like the walls of a citadel, worn but standing.
Much of my artistic career has been dedicated to researching and preserving the visual essence of Iranian architecture. Through painting, I attempt to archive what may vanish. My book, Three Millennia of Art and Architecture in Iran, and my ongoing research reflect my commitment to this purpose.
While my practice began decades ago, shaped by studies in the United States and years of work in Iran, it continues here in Canada. I carry the desert with me—in pigment, in material, and in spirit. And with every brushstroke, I return.
I am grateful to the BC Arts Council and the Province of British Columbia for supporting this exhibition.
— Jamal Tabasinejad
Jamal Tabasinejad 