Artist: Mahsa Soroudi
Exhbition: Nature’s Cadence
Media: Succulents
Website: http://www.mahsasoroudi.com
About the Artist
Mahsa Soroudi is a born and raised Iranian woman who grew up in the metropolitan city of Tehran. Soroudi comes from a “moderate” Muslim family in which there was a balance of not practicing Muslim ideals to the extreme while staying connected to its ideas and morals. Her parents had influenced her way into becoming an artist as they were both fellow artists themselves. Being raised in the city of Tehran has also made an influence on her life as an artist as Tehran is popular and well known for its art. Growing up, Soroudi has also travelled to many countries, most of which were countries in Asia as they were much closer to her perimeter. With that said, she has seen and experienced different cultures which gives way into having an open eye and perspective on others. As a woman who wants to learn more about other cultures and gain better opportunities, she decided to spend the rest of her life settled in the United States in California with her newlywed husband. This major change in her life has brought in many overwhelming emotions in which she portrays through her metaphorical art.
Formal Analysis
In Soroudi’s project, she portrays her journey as an Iranian expatriate through training her succulents. The plants have an earth toned color scheme, mainly with greens, purple-toned colors, as well as some brown here and there. One set of succulents are quite small, however the photo on the right is much larger and can be viewed form a distance. There is definitely movement captured in these plants as each stem grows in a different direction and at a different pace. This difference makes a beautiful masterpiece in the end and all in all and gives a beautiful meaning behind Nature’s Cadence.
Content Analysis
Change can be a scary thing, so people find ways to cope. In Soroudi’s case, she grew a meaningful relationship with her plants, specifically succulents. Succulents are drought-resistant plants which are able to live normally without any water. I feel that there is a great metaphorical connection between the succulents and Soroudi’s situation. Moving into a new environment can make one feel empty, or dehydrated, but like a succulent, one can grow to become beautiful through adapting to its new conditions with or without having any roots settled down in the first place. Soroudi’s plants were a visual representation of how one can still strive even if it takes a while for one to grow, all it really takes is patience and time.
My Experience
It was really interesting watching Soroudi explain her life story and how she connected with her plants. I thought the metaphor behind it was really beautiful and meaningful. I also really enjoyed how she “trained” and took care of her plants because they turned out to grow into beautiful succulents, which I believe parallels to her life right now. By the looks of it, she seems to have discovered her new path as a United States immigrant and I see a bright future ahead of her.
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