Farzad Kohan's Word Paintings

I escaped Iran at the age of 18, crossing many borders and multiple countries before finally settling here in Los Angeles at the age of 25.

Human behavior has always fascinated me—how we live and the choices we make in conducting our lives. It was no surprise to incorporate figures in my work, as they reflected my own stories and the people around me.

Migration teaches you about life in unexpected ways. One of the most important things I have learned as an immigrant is the concept of home and what it can mean or where it can be. Home is something I have lost, and as a result, I had to find it again and again, only to realize that there is no single home.

The idea of losing something to make room for something else is a recurring theme in my life and my art. Somewhere in my career as an artist, around 2011, I made a conscious decision to remove figures from my work. It took time, but eventually, words began to fill my canvases. These words represent the absence of figures. They tell the same stories, but now in a form that is both readable and, at times, cryptic. The stories are funny and sad, quirky and serious, all at once. The stories are the same, but the characters have changed—this time, from figures to words.

Words carry a heavy load, and by painting them, I am trying to convince myself that there is a home where I belong—wherever I might find it, wherever I might lose it.

Escaping Iran was something I had to do; I could not express myself creatively or freely in the country where I was born. I am grateful for the opportunities migration has provided me, even though it cost me the place I used to call home. In return, it has given me a life I could not have anticipated.