ARTIST STATEMENT
After my immigration I realized food is part of the home I left behind. Nothing tastes the same. There is an unsatisfiable urge in me to constantly search for the same feeling I had towards food and my relationship with it.
Food also is the tool I am using to try to make my new residence, more of a home. I am spending more time than I ever imagined, in the kitchen and go out of my way to make complicated food from home. I am searching for comfort and meaning in my food. I feel love and I send love towards my people, my culture, and my home in what I cook and the way I act in the kitchen. It is my way of nesting.
I also believe my food and the way I treat my food and its ingredients can stand out in my new environment and among new people that I am living with.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Shahrbanoo Hamzeh is a studio artist graduating with a Master of Fine Arts in painting this May from Illinois State University. Prior to this, she has gotten a master’s degree in Painting from Alzahra University. Her Undergrad degree was focused on Iranian Art and Culture from Kashan University.
Her research interests are mostly focused on human rights violations in her home country, Iran, especially towards women. She believes it is not easy to be an Iranian woman, not in Iran, nor anywhere else. Her homeland is facing a lot of problems and conflicts these days, that is why her works are focused on the ideas of home, home country, leaving, loss, safety, and longing.
© Shahrbanoo Hamzeh