Sara Niroobakhsh

Sara Niroobakhsh
Sara_Niroobakhsh_Varley_Art_Gallery.jpg Sara_Niroobakhsh_Varley_Art_Gallery.jpg Sara_Niroobakhsh, 2019
Born	(1981-09-05) September 5, 1981 Ahwaz, Iran
🏳️ Nationality	Iranian Canadian
🏫 Education	Shariaty Technical College 2004 BFA, Tehran University of Art 2008 MA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago 2022 MFA.
💼 Occupation
Known for	Interactive Art, New Media Art, Performance Art, Installation Art
Notable work	Lactation Induction Engine , Tabalvour , Saffron Diary
🌐 Website	[1] ]

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Sara Niroobakhsh (Persian: سارا نیروبخش‎ [ særæ nɪrōəbækhsh ]; born Nov 05, 1981, is an Iranian-born artist, a former professor in Islamic Azad University and University of Applied Science and Technology in Tehran, currently a visiting assistant art professor in the Interactive Media program at New York University Abu Dhabi . Working primarily at the intersection of body, science, technology, and new media that engage the globalizing feminine psyche, she has spent the last decade experimenting with a variety of multimedia projects involving living tissue, chemistry, virtual reality, and performance. She is a recent artist-in-residence in the Odin Bio Lab in Austin, and the former resident in Royal Astronomical Society in London, UK, and, and Elizabeth Foundation for Arts in New York. Niroobakhsh's work, Saffron Diary, was awarded Explore and Create Research and Creation Grant as a performance installation art project from Canada Council for the Arts in 2020 and received an art residency at Goldfarb Study Centre Gallery at York University in 2019. In this work, she writes her diary with saffron ink on thousands of grains of rice and covers the exhibition's wall. Her recent performance-based series, Zaghareet and Fifty Women Voices, has been held at the Czech China Contemporary in Beijing, South Korea’s CICA Museum, Spartanburg Art MuseumFrederick Horsman Varley Art Gallery in Canada and Black Box Space at New York University Abu Dhabi received Visual Artists Creation Projects Grant from Ontario Arts Council in 2018 and Canada Council for the Arts in 2022 . In most of her projects, she references the notion of the body, existence, and limitation through sound, bio art, performance and installation layered with her own technology science-based interventions. Niroobakhsh's recent work highlights the human body transition in life and death and promotes the importunes of the healing process through crystal performance and installation art. She is known for her performance work Tabalvour which crystallizes her body inside a terracotta jar with the saturated solution containing saffron and also her LIE project in which she makes her breast produce milk through a multimedia durational performance without consuming pregnancy and hormones. She holds a BFA from the Shariaty Technical College, and an MA from Tehran University of Art and an MFA for art and technology studies from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Lactation Induction Engine: LIE

The project delves into the function of productive host organs, such as the breasts, within the human body. Are they solely responsible for serving others, or can they function independently?Inspired by Organs Without Bodies by philosophers Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, the concept describes the unregulated potential of a body without organizational structures imposed on its constituent parts, operating freely. In September 2021, Niroobakhsh devised a plan for intense pumping sessions and embarked on the project. The entire procedure was meticulously documented through photography and filming during each session. Furthermore, the project, similar to various other durational art forms, incorporates additional concepts that transcend gender-related contexts.

I created this bio-performance project to create an innovative way for women and transfer people who want to establish this connection with their baby without experiencing pregnancy or taking medication and hormones.

Due to the overwhelming physical strain induced by the mechanical effect of the breast pump, she decided to integrate new media elements to lend credibility to this fabrication within their body. Sound was utilized, including baby's crying, breastfeeding-related videos, and even using Olfactory art medium by creating a perfume infused with the scent of newborns, in an endeavor to emulate the effects of hormones and medication. In the subsequent phase, all these formats were amalgamated to create an immersive Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality environment. Additionally, a lactation bag was devised to facilitate the procedure when the artist was outside. During the 18th week of the project, an ultrasound confirmed the activation of breast ducts, and by the 21st week, the first colostrum began to flow. This project exhibited at the SAIC Washington Galleries at School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Tabalvor: Crystallization

This project is a multidimensional endeavor that includes chemistry, installation, and performance. It was exhibited at a performance art venue at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The artist, who had lost their mother after decades of battling cancer, received a red crystal called Crocoite from a friend to help cope with the loss. Believing in the magical healing effects of crystals and their ability to release energy and connect physical and mental aspects, the artist conceived an idea to create a piece examining these notions through the study of chemistry. Drawing inspiration from the ancient burial methods observed in their childhood at the town museum in Haft Tepeh, she began constructing a large clay vessel. On the first anniversary of her mother's passing, the artist immersed their body in the vessel. The vessel contained a hot saturated solution of saffron, and sodium borate liquid, which served to stimulate the body and gradually form crystals over the course of two hours. Each stage of interaction with the materials evoked distinct sensations for the artist. The substance felt rough and hot upon contact with their skin, but soon thereafter, thick crystals began to envelop their body. As time passed, the artist experienced skin burns and extreme discomfort in their head and body, signaling the onset of a real struggle.

During this creative process, as crystals were forming on my skin, I had a profound realization of the parallel between the growth of these crystals and the relentless spread of tiny cancer cells that had afflicted my mother's body for eight long years. It was a moment of deep insight, as I began to perceive cancer and death not merely as agents of destruction but as transformative forces that could turn my suffering body into something of great value. It was akin to unearthing an underground treasure that, instead of dissolving or digesting, would reproduce in a different form under extreme heat and pressure. It was in this crucible that molecules forged strong covalent bonds, giving birth to growing crystals. The experience allowed me to find meaning in the midst of pain and see the potential for beauty to emerge from the most challenging circumstances.

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At the conclusion of the performance, the artist unveiled their crystallized body by breaking the clay jar. The last picture of that performance shows the artist inside a ceramic pot that is partially broken. Artist skin is red in color from the crystals. Pot is white ceramic against a stage floor.

Saffron Diary

Niroobakhsh.s I, Saffron was exhibited in the : York University in Canada in 2019. The focal point of the exhibition is the piece “Saffron Diary” (2019), which also lends the exhibition its name. An homage to all the female ancestors whose journey consisted of creating joy out of routine and ordinary practices. What makes Niroobakhsh’s work unique is the miniscule size of the grains of rice, making it difficult to even make out what is inscribed, to say nothing of the language barrier for some visitors. The work speaks to the loaded history of personal diaries, particularly those kept by women. Scholars like Valerie Raoul have long pointed out the way, in the West, personal diaries (journal intime) were considered to be an appropriate form of writing for women, who “were discouraged from writing for the public. This installation that incorporates aspects of Persian hospitality (cooking, working for the family) along with the fusion of modern technology will allow for a natural engagement between the artist and an audience. Art has the capacity to break down barriers and open up conversations on cultures that are foreign to the Western eye.

External links

• Sara Niroobakhsh Official website
• Akimbo: Sara Niroobakhsh Visual Artist
• Peripheral Review: I, Saffron
• Blank Spaces June 2018: cover art by Sara Niroobakhsh Featuring the work of Sara Niroobakhsh
• Feminist Spaces Journal: Interview with Sara Niroobakhsh about Lactation Induction Engine Project P.126
• The New Wriver: Shushtar by an Augmented Reality Project by Sara Niroobakhsh

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