Mohsen Amini
Tehran, Iran
He belongs to earliest generation of contemporary jewelers in Iran. Over the last 2 decades, his active involvement in more than 20 public shows, lectures & written works has had significant impact on perception of jewelry as artistic medium in Iran.
“My artistic statement is redefining the past, present, and future of adornment in relation to the queer experience!
Contemporary Jewelry can uniquely enable us to connect our personal, social, ethnic and historical background to our current environment. This wearable art form creates opportunities to change and react to our surroundings. My chosen concepts are often related to genderism and queer studies. I prioritize artistic creation that challenges injustice and exclusion. In so doing, through my small objects, I actively encourages alternative perspectives as well as activist intervention."
What does being queer mean to you in relation to your material choices? Is it something you consider?
“Being queer, in the context of my artistic jewelry practice, is deeply intertwined with my material choices and overall processes. My interdisciplinary approach is driven by a blend of experimentation and research, focusing on exploring the significance of materials in artistic expression. The intent behind material selection acts as a guiding force in my creative process, informing both technique and narrative.
This material thinking methodology often drawn from my personal experiences. Growing up in a conservative environment where my identity was suppressed, my queerness serves as a catalyst for creating art that reflects otherness and uniqueness. Through my work, I aim to carve out a space where I can authentically express myself and challenge conventional perceptions of tradition. However, I have been using micro-mosaics as body of my artworks for the past 8 years. ‘Khatam’ is a traditional Iranian micro-mosaic that possess qualities that can transcend boundaries and promote my appreciation for diversity. I believe that doing something different with my ancestor’s heritage is a kind of political act, particularly with something that has a traditional dogma attached to it."
Is the work queer because the maker is queer, or is it queer because the subject matter is queer?
“I think wherever due inspiration has come from; the artwork itself must be extract of a personal history. My two decades of involving in art and craft certifies my position as queer in the third world and describes how I have been traditionally otherd through connection to my own body. That systematically Othering socio-political power automatically rejects representational thinking and banns a minimum queer representation; thus Instead of bodying, encourages abstraction!
Consequently, this compulsory formalist approach takes the material and visual qualities as their social and political interventions. In this context, subject doesn’t matter; whatever queer artist creates categorizes in queer art. I perceive queer abstraction as a catachresis that surpasses categorical boundaries of meaning both visually and materially."
"Brooch: Living in the Borderland", Micro-mosaics (khatam), silver, copper, stainless steel, Persian carpet, crystal gems, .8" x 2.4" x 2.8", 2022Anything else you would like to share about this work? This can be an important part of the process, sourcing materials, or research.
“It is difficult to see immediately how abstraction (as a generalizing mechanism) can address sexuality, gender, and race, particularly because its content does not picture difference through figural representation or descriptive terms of identity.
Working on capabilities of my abstract and geometric micro-mosaic (Khatam), one theoretical challenge has arisen to prompt me think what might abstraction offer that is useful in our understanding of the politics of gender, if not through the body? I think the pluralistic soul of Khatam can be defined within the framework of queer abstraction to demonstrate its viability for contemporary queer movements. Draw out from one of my core Utopian dreams that we might find ways to coexist in differences, I aspire for Khatam to be regarded as the new rainbow flag someday! I believe that Micro-mosaic serves as an excellent means of presenting more visual images than the only six colors, symbolizing diversity."