Iram Asghar is a Pakistani and Turkish Multidisciplinary artist. Their work focuses on catharsis and the different ways in which pain can be transformed. They explore their emotions through sewing, painting, poetry, and performance. In doing so, they are able to process intergenerational trauma, connect with their ancestors, and invite expressions of the divine into suffering.
This paper-mache dress is part of the above performance that explores my grieving process around separation from family.
My parents are retiring in Pakistan because it is the only place they can afford to retire in. I am exploring my pain knowing that I may not be there for their struggles as they age or for their final moments before death due to the distance and difficulties that come with that.
This led me to explore longing for home and a longing for love.
As I was creating this piece, I practiced my movements by the Atlantic ocean, at Manhattan beach, near where my parents currently live. The strength of the water and waves were incredibly healing and helped move a lot of the feelings that were coming up for me. In the sound score of the piece, alongside Leonard Cohen's song "Come Healing" are recordings of ocean sounds from Manhattan Beach.
Mural: New Avenues for Youth
Moxie - Transitional Housing 2024
This video is a ceremonial heart surgery, removing three branches from a heart sculpture made to explore painful spaces lingering in the heart. This sculpture was also an exploration of grief around generations of artists in my family who never got to pursue their art, either because of the difficulties of poverty or societal pressures. The three branches reference the three of swords card from the tarot, representing deep emotional sorrow. Removing these branches has been part of the healing process of these ancestral wounds.
