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Kiana Honarmand is an artist born and raised in Iran. Her work addresses issues related to her cultural identity, violation of women's rights in Iran, censorship, surveillance, and the Western perception of the Middle East. In 2012, Kiana moved to the United States to pursue her Master of Fine Arts degree at Penn State University. She currently lives and works in the Bay Area. Her work has been exhibited in numerous venues including Metal Museum, Memphis, TN; San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, CA; New Museum, Los Gatos, CA; Lite-Haus Galerie, Berlin, Germany; 709 Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA; Laleh Gallery, Tehran, Iran; Root Division, San Francisco, CA; Spectrum Gallery, Centerbrook, CT; Rogers Gallery, Berea College, KY; Olin Gallery, Washington and Jefferson College, Washington, PA; HUB Robeson Galleries, Pennsylvania State University, PA; Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA; Aggregate Space Gallery, Oakland, CA; Sidney Larson Gallery, Columbia College, Columbia, MO; MCLA Gallery 51, North Adams, MA; Crayola Gallery, Banana Factory Art Center, Bethlehem, PA; Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, Novato, CA; The Drawing Room, San Francisco, CA; Oakland Asian Cultural Center, Oakland, CA.
Published on March 19th, 2023. Artist responses collected in months previous.
What are you fascinated with right now?
I have been fascinated with shadow and light recently. I have worked with these elements in the past and I am looking for ways to incorporate them into my current studio practice. I love how light and shadow can change the mood and atmosphere of a space, and even though they do not take up any physical space, they can take over large areas and make anyone who passes through a part of the piece.
What advice would you give your younger artist self?
I do not yet feel that I am in a place to give advice to anyone, including my younger self. I am still trying to figure things out. Every day is a new experiment, making mistakes and learning from them, working towards gaining more knowledge and experience. However, if I were to give one piece of advice to my younger self, it would be to not get fixated on small details and focus more on the big picture.
What are your tools for creative resilience these days? Do you have any methods to stay positive when life becomes difficult and perhaps when you have limited time to create?
Due to the recent events in Iran, staying positive in the studio has been a real challenge.
With the Woman Life Freedom protests and the government crackdown on protestors, it has been very hard to focus on anything. Like many Iranians, I am grieving, and staying positive has been a struggle. I’ve been trying to push myself to put all of the sadness and anger into my studio work, but sometimes when feelings are fresh, it is hard to find the energy for creativity. I have found that I need a bit of distance and time for reflection to be able to translate my feelings into my work.
What is your dreamy vision for your creative career and art practice three years from now?
Three years seems like a long time away, and very near at the same time. I am coming to terms that as a conceptual and interdisciplinary artist, it will take me a long time to have a self-sustaining art career. I’ve been trying to slowly build my practice while having a day job to support my work. In three years, I hope to get to a place where I can dedicate at least half of my time to my studio practice. I am looking for ways to get my work into the public sphere, and I hope that becomes a part of my practice by that time.
How are you being kind to yourself as you look towards realizing your vision for your art career?
This is something that I am terrible at and I need to put work into improving this aspect of my life. Like many artists, I often feel burnt out between a day job and the different projects that I am juggling at the same time. This past year was particularly challenging for me because there was a period where I had back-to-back deadlines and went months without taking a single day off. I am trying to tell myself that I need to put rest on my list of priorities. Being burnt out also negatively impacts the work made in the studio. I am working towards a career with a better work-life balance.
What are you fascinated with right now?
I have been fascinated with shadow and light recently. I have worked with these elements in the past and I am looking for ways to incorporate them into my current studio practice. I love how light and shadow can change the mood and atmosphere of a space, and even though they do not take up any physical space, they can take over large areas and make anyone who passes through a part of the piece.
What advice would you give your younger artist self?
I do not yet feel that I am in a place to give advice to anyone, including my younger self. I am still trying to figure things out. Every day is a new experiment, making mistakes and learning from them, working towards gaining more knowledge and experience. However, if I were to give one piece of advice to my younger self, it would be to not get fixated on small details and focus more on the big picture.
What are your tools for creative resilience these days? Do you have any methods to stay positive when life becomes difficult and perhaps when you have limited time to create?
Due to the recent events in Iran, staying positive in the studio has been a real challenge.
With the Woman Life Freedom protests and the government crackdown on protestors, it has been very hard to focus on anything. Like many Iranians, I am grieving, and staying positive has been a struggle. I’ve been trying to push myself to put all of the sadness and anger into my studio work, but sometimes when feelings are fresh, it is hard to find the energy for creativity. I have found that I need a bit of distance and time for reflection to be able to translate my feelings into my work.
What is your dreamy vision for your creative career and art practice three years from now?
Three years seems like a long time away, and very near at the same time. I am coming to terms that as a conceptual and interdisciplinary artist, it will take me a long time to have a self-sustaining art career. I’ve been trying to slowly build my practice while having a day job to support my work. In three years, I hope to get to a place where I can dedicate at least half of my time to my studio practice. I am looking for ways to get my work into the public sphere, and I hope that becomes a part of my practice by that time.
How are you being kind to yourself as you look towards realizing your vision for your art career?
This is something that I am terrible at and I need to put work into improving this aspect of my life. Like many artists, I often feel burnt out between a day job and the different projects that I am juggling at the same time. This past year was particularly challenging for me because there was a period where I had back-to-back deadlines and went months without taking a single day off. I am trying to tell myself that I need to put rest on my list of priorities. Being burnt out also negatively impacts the work made in the studio. I am working towards a career with a better work-life balance.
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