Torn in Eternity, 2021
Hoda Kashiha (b. 1986, Tehran, Iran) is a graduate of Painting from the University of Tehran (BA, 2009) and Boston University (MFA, 2014). Works of Hoda Kashiha bounce between everyday life and the imagery she sets out to produce. Through the use of non-linear narrative, dark humor and mythological, religious, and modern icons the artist meets with difficult moments of her personal and political life. Drawing from a variety of references – "from Malevich to Instagram" – she composes her fragmented narratives. Kashiha uses digital tools to first draw a work and then construct it on canvas, layer upon layer. This way of fragmenting motifs nevertheless deal with major contemporary subjects such as persisting gender relations. The body plays an important role in many of the artist’s works. It's through the body that she relates to the world, becomes aware of her desires, and constructs an identity. Drawing the body, not only projects her personal life but also the external world. Being interested in man and woman interaction, she uses various tools (airbrush, i-Pad, stencil) and subjects (body fragments, geometric abstraction) that affects an ambiguity that separates traditional definitions of male- female, resulting in gender fluidity.