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Hamed Rashtian's figures are neither alien nor
alienated. Instead they engage in solitude and isolation
-- two qualities that suggest a removal from the popular
culture of media. Nobody wants to feel alone, yet Hamed
knows that feeling alone is the path to becoming an
artist. He wants us to know these feelings are real. Put
down the mobile phone, shut off the computer. Just hold
your head in your hands -- and learn to be real. Get a
sense of yourself, even as the stars flow by and the
planets waver in the galaxy. Be real! Hamed Rashtian is
giving us this message. His art is about the spectre of
lost individuality and the need to regain it. His tondos
and pictorial emblems are made of digital stardust and
tears. He wants to tell the truth, but knows that even
those who understand will hide away. The fierceness of
truth augments his feelings of isolation. Yet Hamed
continues to move ahead. He never stops believing that
his point of view is real. It emanates from a Persian
heart and the mind that strives to tell the truth, even
if that truth is filled with irony and desolation. His
art is about the self imagining a better world. His art
takes us on a journey where we explore thoughts and
sensations that give us a sense of real being and
fulfillment in the world.
DR. Robert C. Morgan
27 Sep. 2009
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