"The practice and growth of my Art has been informed by many and varied influences, not only by the visual but also by the unseen, the interior, the inexpressible, or the musical. I include my Catholic spirituality, mnemonics, a mixed Irish/Zoroastrian parentage, knowledge of justice and community, music, and observations regarding the relationship between object and place. I believe that all of these things find their truest representation, in a sort of reverse Platonic fashion, in the physicality of created Art. Art, therefore, is for myself the means by which all those things that exist in human nature and the natural world find their truest expression".
"I received my greatest schooling during my upbringing at home, where music, the visual arts, science, history, politics, language, and a love of learning were ever present. Early influences included classical Irish illumination and calligraphy, cultural and religious symbols and iconography, dance, and musical, religious, and architectural structures. Five years of excellent art history education at the secondary level complimented this early education.
My university studies focused primarily on music - graduating with a BA (Ordinary) in Fine Arts (Music). My training in sculpture consisted of some studio courses, and a basic knowledge of the workings of the tools and machines in the sculpture studio. The rest was left to me – working with found objects for the most part, and being exposed to art and the critical thinking that was then (and still is) in fashion in many fine arts colleges.
Life after graduation saw extensive travel - visiting all the major European galleries and being singularly impressed by the work of Rodin, Bourdelle, Claudel, the modernist artists, and the freedoms they gained. Teaching the piano and selling my work gave me the means by which I could set up a sculptural practice. In 1995 I moved to Ireland and my first studio was opened in that autumn in Belfast, Ireland. Since that time, I have survived as a working artist, solely dependant upon my art.
During my ten years in Ireland, I exhibited widely, had works purchased for public/private collections, and received commissions for public murals and sculptures in many countries. I survived as an artist and co-founded the SPACE gallery in Belfast during a rough but wonderful and historic period. I traveled to Europe, India, Arabia, and Africa – working on public commissions or attending art residencies. I was commended by the Queen of Jordan for my sculptures. I published my own illustrated Inferno (Dante), and I was the house blues pianist for an Irish language theatre company on the Falls Road.
In 2004 saw a return to Canada, where I resumed my artistic practice. I continue to exhibit and work on commissioned pieces both here and abroad for example numerous shows and public commissions in Cyprus and Belfast and Tunisia. Between 2004 and 2011 I have shown with the Sculptors Society of Canada and also at the Arts & Letters Club of Toronto - where I was also the Art Committee Chair in 2008-2009. I also curated exhibitions in Toronto and am active in working with and helping an emerging generation of artists.
2011 has seen my work be accepted into course curriculum's at the University of Toronto and on to the altars of a Toronto Church. I also recently won the 2011 RAVE award from the City of Vaughan for Public Art. 2012 will see a large solo exhibition in Rome.
You can see Farhad’s work at this year's Masala! Mehndi! Masti! Festival at the Habourfront Centre on Friday, August 19, 2011. He will be featured at M!M!M!'s Artists' Walkway from 7pm to 11pm at the Marilyn Brewer Community Space. Click HERE for more information.
Click HERE for more information on Farhad's artwork.
I find life an exciting business,The point is succinctness of expression.
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