FAEGHEH (FAWN) SHIRAZI

My name is Faegheh (Fawn) Shirazi. I was born in Abadan, Iran and lived there until I graduated from high school. I have lived in the United States since 1972. I am a retired professor from the University of Texas at Austin from the Islamic Studies program. I though courses that related to gender and material culture in the Islamic world. Most of all I am interested in the popular religious practices in the contemporary Islamic world.

In addition to my academic studies, I have always been interested in various art forms and have explored many mediums, particularly in material culture, including clothes design, patch works and embroidery, sewing, interior furnishings, pottery, jewelry making, weaving, as well as painting in oil, acrylic, and watercolor.

Early in life, my academic training in textiles and clothing enabled me to see how handwoven patterned textiles and printed motifs on fabrics can reveal so much about the cultures and those who created them. In a way, the motifs and colors are silent communicators. I believe that many creations by human beings communicate in this way.

My formal training in painting started in 2001 when I took my first oil painting class, and I have enjoyed painting ever since.  In my art, colors are the most revealing aspects of my mood and personality. No matter what medium of art I am working in, my bright color combinations always move forward. I have a keen sense of color combination, which is not a skill that I learned in any of my art studies; it is more of a natural capacity. For me the colors on canvas are the first thing that I relate to, and colors in various combinations are what I see first in any art.

Below here you are able to see my academic published manuscripts with my own art work on the cover of the books. I am pleased to unite my academic work with my artistic work together.

Painting is a happy and creative time for me and is a form of mental relaxation and imagination. Each canvas is the labor of creativity, and so in a general way I do not like to copy and paint in the styles of Realism. My subject matter is diverse, and normally I do not paint from a real model or example, but from imagination and memory. My most natural affinity in art is with Expressionism, which most closely captures my inner feelings and imagination. I enjoy the challenge and opportunity to participate and to be included in the circle of art scene in Austin.