Judson-Morrissey 2023 Fellow: Rose Ansari
Rose Ansari is an Iranian multidisciplinary artist. She attended Alzahra university of Tehran for her BFA and School of the Art Institute of Chicago to earn her MFA degree in Art & Technology Studies. Rose has a sensible and scientific approach to art. For a while she worked as a designer for plays, which made her sensitive to the potential of mise-en-scène, lighting and acting as a living being on the scene. Rose Ansari believes deeply in the power of technology in arts which makes the artwork relevant. Her recent works are inspired from architectural space and elements, science of materials, and body movements. Her works have been shown nationally and internationally.
Rose Ansari is an Iranian multidisciplinary artist. She attended Alzahra university of Tehran for her BFA and School of the Art Institute of Chicago to earn her MFA degree in Art & Technology Studies. Rose has a sensible and scientific approach to art. For a while she worked as a designer for plays, which made her sensitive to the potential of mise-en-scène, lighting and acting as a living being on the scene. Rose Ansari believes deeply in the power of technology in arts which makes the artwork relevant. Her recent works are inspired from architectural space and elements, science of materials, and body movements. Her works have been shown nationally and internationally.
Tell us a little about your background and your trajectory as an artist/ scholar
When I was a child, I was so fascinated with utilizing spaces that I created my own fantasy structures with LEGO bricks, which later helped me develop my spatial abilities. As a 13-year-old, I created a Multimedia Builder application about Linear Algebra to give an analytical geometry perspective. I initially pursued Mathematics in high school to enhance my analytical and conceptual problem-solving skills. For my undergraduate studies, my enthusiasm for art led me to study Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting at Al-Zahra University in Tehran, Iran, to acquire knowledge that is more related to the humanities. This program gave me a poetic visual language understanding, a keen eye for aesthetics and elements, and a way to express contemporary concerns. Being born and raised in Iran, I was greatly influenced by abstract Persian art. In my works, I use symbolic visualization and geometrical forms to address philosophical truths and spiritual meditation in connection with the social-cultural anthropology of the Orient, on the one hand, and to manifest a higher mystical reality, on the other. I gained a comprehensive insight into dramatic arts production in the entertainment industry by being the scene and costume designer for theaters. I gained hands-on experience in teamwork, responsibility, flexibility, and verbal communication to work cooperatively. The casts seemed to me as miniature beings in a world I created. Afterward, I became more perceptive of the significance of light, sound and mise-en-scène in my next projects and further acknowledged the power of improvisational storytelling for emotional engagement. I will incorporate my theatrical awareness and learnings into my future narrative XR projects. Then, I became interested in video art as a way to capture the drama phenomenon, so I learned visual programming to create real-time generative projects. In parallel, I began studying the French language and literature. By researching the history of the French avant-garde and New Wave movements, my video art evolved into short experimental films inspired by Lynchian style, Lettrism, and Fluxus, which I began entering into competitions.
What are some of your main influences?
Persian Visual Culture, Anthropology & Environment.
What are you working on now?
A new chapter in my academic life has just begun as I will be starting my Master of Fine Arts in Art & Technology Studies at School of Art Institute of Chicago in fall 2023. After obtaining in-depth knowledge and practical experience in the theoretical and traditional aspects of visual arts and design during the past years, I am ready to explore the Art & Technology field to develop my physical computing skills and acquire knowledge of sculpting sounds to manufacture hybrid forms of robotic interactive installations involving multi-channel audiovisual systems and sensors. Furthermore, I would like to use scientific technology to increase the intimacy between my installation and the audience and to explore the behavioral movement of the body in my theatrical machine-spaces. Additionally, I look forward to joining Bio-Art lab to deepen my research about the relationship between sound and color, auditory-visual synesthesia, and to connect the audience’s inner experience and personal interaction with my Lumia immersive installation.