ROYA FARASSAT

SIDE BY SIDE

Roya Farassat, Sisters, Charcoal on paper, 2021

“Growing up in Iran, I navigated complex social, political, sexual, and religious influences that shaped identity across generations. My artistic approach is deeply psychological and playful, weaving reality with imagination. Through satirical portraits, mostly women, I depict solitary moments and various relationships, exploring heteronormativity, tenderness, and platonic connections. Having experienced patriarchy firsthand, I address the objectification of women by delving into their inner psyche with elements of humor, irony, and at times, profound sorrow. My work often features a tension between opposing forces, symbolized by the figures’ distortion and compression against the canvas. I aim to evoke empathy through intuitive painting, seamlessly transitioning between representation and abstraction in each piece.”

-Roya Farassat

Roya Farassat is an Iranian American visual artist living in New York. Her abstract and figurative work includes drawings, paintings, and sculptures. She received her BFA from Parsons School of Design and has been widely exhibited at galleries and museums in United States and abroad. Farassat was nominated for The Victoria and Albert Jameel Prize and The MOP Foundation Contemporary Art Prize and awarded residencies from Henry Street Settlement and The Makor Steinhardt Center. Her work has been reviewed by The New York Times, The Financial Times, The Brooklyn Rail, The Boston Globe, Artcritical, Art Radar, Hyperallergic, W Magazine, and Flaunt Magazine.

Roya Farassat, Honey to my Mouth, Charcoal on paper, 2021

The following poem has been written in response to these paintings anonymously.

THE JUNCTURE BY “JANE DOEXCI”

A handful of mulberries under the kitchen table,
dried and shrunken, like the time I was too small to be five.
If I held your hand loosely, the sand fell through
my fingers and drifted off your palm.
I put on your hat and looked in the mirror
to make you appear twice––putting on your shoes,
tying your lace by the front door.
In the master bedroom, your genetic hotspot
where I evaporated for just one moment.
Up until eleven, I forced myself into an elbow stand
until I cut my arm with a nail on the ground.
I kept my legs above my head, and watched the red pond
beneath me grow. I wondered if this is where I was born,
in the circle where fear and life become one substance.

Roya Farassat, Daddy’s Girl, charcoal and colored pencil on paper, 2023

Roya Farassat, Mommy’s Boy, charcoal and colored pencil on paper, 2023