Azita Mireshghi is an American born Iranian metalsmith and studio artist living and working in Santa Monica, CA where she was born and raised. She obtained her Master of Fine Arts in Jewelry and Metal Arts in 2016. She has spent her entire life traveling back and forth to Iran and has a deep-rooted connection to Iranian culture and art. Her work in general explores emotional reactions caused by adornment. Azita’s current focus is creating art that addresses social justice issues, while making wearable pieces that are process driven through her examination of texture in metal.
Azita Mireshghi
she/her
“My current body of work explores the reach and effects of art in social justice activism, relating to multiple issues happening around the globe.”
"Inspired by the following message on ‘Queering the map (Palestine) *’
‘I’ve always imagined you and me sitting out in the sun, hand [in] hand, free at last. We spoke of all the places we could go if we could.. Yet you are gone now. If I had known that bombs raining down on us would take you from me, I would have gladly told the world how I adored you more than anything. I am sorry I was a coward.’
The intention of this necklace is to serve as a beacon of hope for a world where people coexist not in otherness but in togetherness. It is a projection of the freedom to be one’s authentic self, unburdened by societal expectations or labels. In my envisioned world, the very concept of humanity transcends the notion of crimes against one another. Love flows unconditionally, free from judgment and the oppressive forces that have plagued our history.”
*resource available at bottom of page"
How does your work relate to the theme Adorned Serenity— How does the work function as a wearable safe space?
Free At Last, Brass & Recycled Bullet Casings, 24 inches long, 2023
“This wearable safe space is my interpretation of a better world on its way, emerging from the rubble of current atrocities, one in which equality and peace reign supreme, where individuals can proudly identify as whoever they choose to be, and where the collective dream of a free and just society becomes a reality.”
How do you see this piece existing in the world as a wearable safe space?
Or is this piece specific to you?
“Put it on and imagine a use the emotions it inspires to manifest a better world.”
If someone found this piece and needed an instruction manual to make the safe space work — what’s a quick how to?
Anything else you would like to share about this work? This can be an important part of the process, sourcing materials, or research.
"About my source of inspiration for this piece (from their website): Queering the Map is a community generated counter-mapping platform for digitally archiving LGBTQ2IA+ experience in relation to physical space.
The platform provides an interface to collaboratively record the cartography of queer life—from park benches to the middle of the ocean—in order to preserve our histories and unfolding realities, which continue to be invalidated, contested, and erased. From collective action to stories of coming out, encounters with violence to moments of rapturous love, Queering the Map functions as a living archive of queer life. If it counts to you, then it counts for Queering the Map.
Through mapping LGBTQ2IA+ experience in its intersectional permutations, the project works to generate affinities across difference and beyond borders—revealing the ways in which we are intimately connected."
