Skip to main content

ART FOCUS - from studio to gallery

This month we highlight the work of Iranian-American artist Fatemeh Burnes. 


Artist Spotlight

The Visual Poetry of Fatemeh Burnes

Meeting the Rabbit, 2016-2018, 144 x 72"

Guided by spontaneity, an intrinsic impulse to experiment and discover, the work of Fatemeh Burnes feels as vividly personal as it is socioculturally complex.




Based in Los Angeles, Burnes just moved her studio to the Brewery Complex, which recently hosted its bi-annual Art Walk. Working in painting and photography, Burnes forges a distinct, rich style within each medium. This is one of the unique qualities of her practice. Each material communicates a variant aspect of her fluid, playful artistic exploration.

Classically trained in Persian art and verse, as well as modern Persian poetry, biology, and western art practice, Burnes composes her own kind of visual balladry. Whether photographic or painted, her pieces read like poems. Kaleidoscopic sonnets, dazzling in their conceptual radiance.

_____________________________________________________________________________________


Goddess of Discord, 2023, Oil, handmade paper, and spray paint on canvas, 72 x 96"



We asked Fatemeh to share a bit about her studio practice, creative vision, and the driving force behind her work.

Gain some insight into the material and conceptual complexity of Burnes's contemplative, surreal landscapes, in the artist's own words.

"As a painter, and in my work in photography and across media, I examine modern events and tragedies, both ecological and social, and their manifestations in contemporary life.

My work encompasses themes of displacement and hierarchical social structures through the elaborate interplay of contradictory elements. My vision is guided by a deep engagement with the force of nature and the history that shapes us.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

 

In my creative process, I lean towards subconscious associations, where perceptually recognizable and unrecognizable images coexist in surreal spaces. I playfully and symbolically use materials, layering to construct and deconstruct, cover and uncover, expose and transform time, space, and language.

The resulting visual poems feature intermingling opposites—order and chaos, reality and fantasy—struggling for parity and debating their interchangeability.

_____________________________________________________________________________________


Playground, 2016-2018, Oil paint on canvas, triptych, 72 x 138" - Procured by Source Art for a client's Beverly Hills residence.

My painting and photographic series often mirror each other in their complexity and my approach to layering. In my photography practice, I have moved away from my traditional darkroom training, adopting several in-camera and digital techniques, including multiple exposure, scanning, digital editing, and light manipulation.

The process of solving challenges often becomes more engaging than the solutions themselves. My process involves exploring phenomena, whether occurring in the world, in my dreams, in my thoughts, or as tangible as rocks on the ground." - Fatemeh Burnes


  

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Chronicling narratives of fantastical spaces where the ordered concepts dictating our world are in flux, Burnes creates spheres of total freedom. Spaces where personal narratives refashion themselves into an ideology of connection and commonality. An embodiment of human experience through a striking, surreal prose.

Since the 1980s, Burnes has exhibited her work extensively, both nationally and internationally, curated over 100 exhibitions at Mt. San Antonio College, and authored numerous publications.

Burnes has taught fine arts, design, and art history at California State University Fullerton, the Art Institute of Southern California, Saddleback College, Fullerton College, and the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandise.

_____________________________________________________________________________________


Search out more of Fatemeh Burnes's work on our website sourceart

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

UPLIFTING COMMUNITY - resources for healing and support

We hold all those impacted by the fires in our hearts. If you are an artist, designer, or collector experiencing loss, we are here to support you. Through such heartbreaking devastation, we are witnessing the arts community come together, a beacon of hope demonstrating what we can do for each other in such challenging times. Donate directly to LA Artists and Art workers  here _____________________________________________________________________________________ Mourning loss and looking to rebuild Alec Egan, Night Setting, 2025 Archival Pigment Print on Sunset Hot Press Rag 310g, 16 1/2 x 24 inches, edition of 200 We would like to take the time to acknowledge some of the artists and art workers in our community who've lost their studio, home, livelihood, and life's work in these fires. If you are one of those impacted, please search our resources  here . To view a working list of the artists impacted, along with testimonials of their experience and links to their individual fun...
Post a Comment
Read more

SOURCE ART FOCUS - Miami Art Week

This month we explore the thrills and intricacies of the host of Art Fairs taking Miami Beach by storm. Art Basel Miami Beach December 4th - December 8th Alice Aycock, Goya, 2024, aluminum powder coated white, presented by Galerie Thomas Schulte With 283 premier galleries and 320 booths, Art Basel Miami Beach is the largest show in Miami Beach to date. Originating in Bazel, Switzerland and extended to Miami Beach, Hong Kong and Paris, Art Basel is a group of international, annual art fairs focused on contemporary art. The fair presents an exceptional overview of artists, galleries and new perspectives from around the world. Every booth, another vigorous dive into what is happening in the art world. Truly a fabulous way to immerse oneself in art. We love walking prospective clients through the fair as always and, in our exploration of the show, spending time with galleries we know and love as well as discovering many new ones. It’s important when navigating a fair as big as this one, t...
Post a Comment
Read more

ART FOCUS - sculpture commission

This month we give an overview of the process - from first sketch to final installation - behind a commission with LA-based sculptor Brad Howe. Behind the Screen From imaging to installation: what does our process entail?       Selection Beginning with a series of conversations to tease out our client's vision and personal style, we are able to offer connections to artists and artworks precisely tailored to their tastes. When a long-term client of ours fell in love with Brad Howe's abstract sculpture work, we arranged a studio visit to explore his work in person. With a career that began in Brazil, Howe’s vivid sculptural practice captures a varied aesthetic that connects local and international communities and visual realms. The bright contours of his dynamic style suited the exciting collection we have been curating with our client. To our delight, Howe graciously agreed to a commission in the style of a screen customized for a poolside exterior. The coherence with our ...
Post a Comment
Read more

ART FOCUS - highlights and happenings

Across Los Angeles and the globe, artists are spinning threads of organic interconnection, re-envisioning our collective relationship to land and landscape, and revitalizing the boundaries of artmaking through technological intermediaries. The Armory Sean Kelly Gallery Janaina Tschäpe, Flowering Blue Abyss, 2024, oil and oil stick on linen, 72 x 96 x 2″ Along with their stunning showing at the Armory, Sean Kelly opened Janaina Tschäpe's fourth solo exhibition with the gallery in New York, which presents a captivating evolution in Tscäpe's artistic journey, a profound personal exploration. Coinciding with the exhibition, a major new monograph on Tscäpe's work is being published. We are honored to have assisted our clients in procuring one of the pieces included in the publication! _____________________________________________________________________________________ Hales Gallery Left: When The Sea Calms Down, 2024, Acrylic on canvas, 60 1/4 x 55 x 2 1/2" Right: Sharp To...
Post a Comment
Read more