Biography
Drawing from Iranian cultural imagery, particularly cinema and home video archives, Ainaz Alipour utilizes local sewing crafts and embroidery techniques from her hometown in northern Khorasan, Iran, to create soft sculptures and textiles. She works with soft sculptures and digital forms like video, VR, and interactive media, emphasizing the importance of cultural representation in art and its potential to challenge or reinforce power structures.
The human body is central to her work, depicted through soft sculptures and digital models. By creating immersive environments that engage the viewer’s body in both virtual reality and video, her installations invite physical interaction and critically engage with misrepresentations of Middle Eastern individuals in Western media.
“Fabric has long been a tool for censorship and control over Iranian women’s bodies, yet it also serves as a medium for beauty, self-expression, and solidarity. Embracing these potentials is liberating for me, as I come from a long family tradition of tailors and fabric merchants. My goal is to continue the heritage passed down by the women in my family and share it with the community at Surel’s Place.”
Ainaz Alipour received her MFA in Studio Arts from the University of South Florida; her MA in Animation and Film from Trabiat Modares University in Tehran, Iran; and a BFA in Printmaking from the Tehran University of Art.
During her residency Alipour led a workshop that introduced participants to traditional Iranian embroidery techniques and showed how it can be integrated with 2D animation, emphasizing cultural representation and self-expression. The participants will worked together to create a small collaborative animation project integrating their embroidered pieces.
For her final event, Alipour presented textile pieces depicting scenes of beauty, prayer, pleasure, and unconditional self-love. Inspired by archival photos, traditional Iranian sewing patterns, and painting, this project offers a tender and intimate portrayal of Iranian women, countering their historically misunderstood depictions in Western media.
Gallery
