As an Iranian immigrant, I live in an imagined in-between space; which is neither my homeland, nor my adopted one. Inspired by Persian miniatures, I synthesize my two diametric worlds: Iran and United States.  

"Burlesque Saints" are portraits of fellow artists during my tenure as a Resident Artist at the Art Center / South Florida. Baring our souls to the highest bidder, I question the symbiotic relationship between the artist and the art market. Influenced by Pamuk's award winning novel "My Name is Red", this is an homage not only to artists, but also to the bygone era of eastern miniatures. As Museums slowly replace houses of worship, art has become our new "Religion". By elevating the status of my artists to that of saints, I reassign them as our new "Prophets", albeit ironic temporal ones.

Pamuk's miniaturists led an altruistic lifestyle at a conflicting age when Islam prohibited portraiture labeling it iconoclastic. While the "Infidel Art" of the Renaissance was sending shock waves throughout the Islamic world,artists were looked down upon as 'fuels for the fires of hell', fearing art replacing Allah as an object of worship. Creating commissioned work hidden away from the eyes of ordinary men, artists led a life of duality and internal clash reverberating today, with which I strongly resonate to.