A (Brief) Conversation with Hangama Amiri
By Miranda Carroll
Hangama Amiri’s large-scale works combine textiles and painting to give viewers a window into intimate moments. These images include moments of looking into the distance, drinking coffee, and standing on a rooftop. In her exhibition Spectators of A New Dawn at Towards Gallery, I was drawn to the depth she creates using varying opacities of textiles. For example, in her work “Portrait of a Lady in a Cafe,” Hangama layers sheer chiffon over painted flowers and other details to create the effect of window panes and steam coming off coffee cups. The textures of her work and layering mirror the often contemplative expressions on her subjects' faces.
In light of that and her public conversation with Tatum Dooley, here is a much shorter rapid-fire style conversation:
Do you have a studio ritual?
Before doing anything in the studio, I check in on my monstera plant, turn on the BBC world news podcast and then sit for a few minutes while drinking my coffee.
What is your phone screen background?
I currently have a sunset seascape from Lunenburg, NS which has my friend’s boat “Susie Q STONEHURST” peeking through in the bottom right corner.
Coffee order?
Light roast with a splash of whole milk.
How often do you floss?
Twice daily.
What are you working on right now?
A set of drawings for upcoming solo and group exhibitions.
Hangama Amiri (b. 1989, Kabul, Afghanistan) holds an MFA from Yale University where she graduated in 2020 from the Painting and Printmaking Department. She received her BFA from NSCAD University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and is a Canadian Fulbright and Post-Graduate Fellow at Yale University School of Art and Sciences (2015-2016). Her work is exhibited nationally and internationally in New York City, Toronto, France, Italy, London (UK), and Sofia, Bulgaria. She has won the 2011 Lieutenant Governor’s Community Volunteerism Award, the 2013 Portia White Protege Award, and in 2015, her painting Island of Dreams won a runner-up honorable mention at RBC Canadian Painting Competition.
Rapidfire questionnaires are brought to you in partnership with Young Collectors Leauge:
