XAN ALBUM 'A Transitional Journey' by Hoda Noroozi
"I an emotional designer I would like to walk you through my collection. This a concept to further create a future business considering Circular Economy and ESG principles in Creative Art."
INTRODUTION
“XAN” is a demo album for a larger project, by participating in the ArteLaguna World contest I want to enable and make this vision come true and meet likeminded artists.
The collection showcases an emotional journey through a visual narrative story of XAN-زن meaning "WOMAN" in Persian, who endured immense societal, environmental, financial and ideological pressures. She had to sacrifice half her life for her freedom. The emotional design story is open-ended, depicting her finding the light and the ability to wisely and freely design and transition to her future.
ARTIST STATEMENT
The XAN album represents a profound emotional and existential journey, merging digital and physical as a complex society and modern spiritualism.
It addresses societal burden of a woman, aging, regeneration, rejuvenation, transformation and transitioning.
My work blends transparency, modern spirituality, life, fantasy, and emotions in flat yet dimensional compositions. It reflects oppressive constraints, losses, and physical setbacks, breaking and shattering like glass.
As an artist, it is my voice for the "Woman_Life_Freedom" uprising in my birth country, Iran and for oppressed women worldwide, encouraging them to keep their broken pieces together and find their path and peace.
ABOUT ME
I am a Finnish Iranian woman, visual artist and emotional designer. Despite lacking formal training, I am a visionary and have been self-teaching since childhood. I paused my doctoral studies in Leadership to pursue my talents outside the academic world.
My career began with a passion for interior design, volunteering as an assistant during a Design Week in 2019, which sparked my desire for a professional career in the field. I earned a certificate in CAD-design for architecture, leading to a job in the industry. However, designing concepts remains my hobby and didn’t have much time for it.
Life challenges, such as loss of my mother to COVID, an accident causing a year of bed rest, and socio-political situations in my birth country, economic endeavors pushed me to find peace through my art and the album I present here. Creating and designing concepts helped me find my voice as an emotional designer.
My past works were experimental, decorative, and exploratory, initially inspired by Van Gogh until 2017. I aspired to be a nude artist, admiring the human body, but cultural biases led to shame and suppression. This evolved into my “secret nude” or “the soul of my nudes.” I began sketches of this album during the pandemic lockdown, using available resources and finishing it with my free time and savings by Autumn 2024.
Currently, my works are inspired by Picasso, architecture, and design, integrating philosophical and anthropological insights into strategically planned pieces.
My art is contemporary and abstract in geometry, a minimalized form of cubism, showing transparency with flat shades, omitting shadows, and expressing emotions through gloss and matte surfaces, colors, geometric shapes, and lines.
My work emphasizes self-care, resilience, and the power of flexibility and transitioning. XAN's journey is portrayed through twelve compelling chapters.
Exhibition History: First-time
Dimensions: 70x90 cm canvas
Album Date: 2024
Artist's sign name: thea_eTa
Medium for all 12 pieces, Mixed media with acrylics, recycled materials, glass, yarn, and clay on canvas, presenting with a summery narrative structured to have a clear and concise description to help viewers understand the progression of XAN’s journey. To engage the audience more, digital presentation is an interactive tool to deepen the audience's connection with my work.
MATERIAL & TECHNIQUES
In the XAN album, I used small pieces of glass and clay and recycled yarns as ornaments and textures to induce natural elements in the paintings rather than artificial ones, inspired by ancient history arts and their durability. I also used recycled materials as much as possible to also save budget.
The application of these elements adds to the lifecycle of my pieces, I would have used more sustainable and natural materials if I could. I deliberately used heavy gels and various types of shines to highlight the fantasy and life.
STATUS
The current status of the paintings is three-quarters complete. The remaining tasks include texturizing with heavy gels, adding glass and clay ornaments, further texturizing to create depth and dimensionality, and finally sealing them with varnish.
This is my first painting album, but I have gone a long way to self-learning and finally creating a comprehensive and cohesive album with my own voice. It will be complete by Autumn 2024, when I can add designed frames, either physically or through an AR presentation.
CHALLENGES
The weaknesses and dilemmas I faced during the XAN project were a lack of financial support, and, consequently, a lack of free time, proper workplace, and artist network, which I had to overcome by myself.
Ideally, I would frame them with glass and wood, as I am not satisfied with the depth of the canvases I had to use. However, if I can’t make them now, I will design the frames with CAD for a high-quality AR video presentation, with a seamless transition between digital and physical mediums.
Technically, I realized that I could have used resin at some places such as hairs instead of acrylic gels, if I knew how to use it when started.
FUTURE
Based on this demo experience, I learned that future work must be done in a workshop, where, I will use real glass, more recycled and self-recycled materials, creating more transparency and shine, making them more durable, aesthetically more beautiful and better to use for modern interior designs and decorations. This approach will also allow for more strategic collaboration with other artists, gaining further training and resources, to show my commitment to professional growth and continuous improvement.
