Meet Bahareh and Farzaneh Safarani of Safarani Sisters in Adelson Galleries

Today we’d like to introduce you to Bahareh and Farzaneh Safarani.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
We started painting at the age 13. We began with conceptual art in various branches such as installation art, video art, poetry and performance. After graduating from Tehran University where we got our Bachelor of Arts in painting we started collaborating. Later we came to the US to continue our education in arts. We got our MFA from Northeastern University. We have established our technique in a unique way of incorporating video and classical paintings. We work together in collaboration to create our striking paintings and video art. We make dramatic compositions of themselves as the subjects to explore to sense of self in relation to the other. We choose to incorporate particular themes and symbols in our work. A major theme that we address is one of identity—as twins, as individuals, and as Iranian women.

Furthermore, we often paint ourselves with black cloth. We feel it is like a buffer that saves us from the dangers outside. We typically depict interior scenes that serve as a safe haven for the women, with the walls and empty spaces acting as a barrier between ourselves and the outside world. Hens, any other woman would feel sympathy with the subject being painted who is portraying a suffered, patient and strong woman. Common features found in these rooms are mirrors and windows with curtains. The mirrors symbolize how the subjects self-reflect and envision us in other worlds or realities, while the half-drawn curtains represent how the women hesitate to make full contact with the outside world. However, any breeze or light that comes through the windows represents the hope that the real world is free, peaceful, and safe, like their walls.

With our combination of videos and paintings and themes of identity and beauty, we say it into words that through their art, we are creating a beautiful moment which remains in the mind of the viewer…this moment is temporary—it comes and goes, just as our lives in this world.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
We could say it’s been smooth in terms of being successful in any step forward. It has been a gradual development in our career so far, yet we never forget how much effort we put together to become what we are now. Having a professional background in specifically painting, and starting studying in a university where all our professors where just about seeking the idea behind our works and critiquing the concept and only the concept of our works was pretty much a challenge for us. We could not accept the fact that they intentionally ignored the technical strength of our works and tried to understand what is happening in our mind as the creator of the art before they themselves try to understand our paintings. We always have difficulty understanding the audience who aiming to. It is the most difficult part of the work when you have to express your idea through the visual elements and becomes much complicated when you want to put the idea in a portrait. Because you must create another self that must unveil your emotions and story.

There is, of course, the challenge that how to work that people would like your works and finally collect it and this a competition in this way between all artists but what we’ve decided to keep creating what we want and be brave enough to depict our story in our works. If we ask ourselves whether we are happy or not our answer is quick yes!

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Safarani Sisters story. Tell us more about the business.
Well not as a company but as we know Safarani Sisters we are specialized in incorporating video and painting in the most dramatic and convincing way for the viewer. The kind of collaboration we do is also very special as far as we are trying to understand ourselves through our works and from the other hand, we paint each other. so it is kind of a self-reflection that make our paintings mysterious and our collaboration unique. We work without any words. I do my job and she does hers and it is like we are connected in our minds. We are so happy that we have each other to work and that the world we are exploring is where one can find themselves.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
The best of luck for us is, of course, having each other. Also coming from a different culture and having to live far away from family in a place with so many challenges have made us strong and we feel lucky that we had the experience of making a living through art and facing the unknowns.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.safaranisisters.com
• Email: info@safaranisisters.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/farzanehbaharehsafarani/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Safarani-Sisters-1506356419689838/?fref=ts

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