I am preoccupied with the nature around us and within us, the history that we make and have made--a history defined not by time but by energy. I look at modern events and tragedies, both ecological and social, and how those events manifest in contemporary life. I make art not just to produce objects, but also to explore phenomena, whether they occur in the world or in my dreams, as thoughts in my mind or as rocks on the ground.

An ingrained impulse prompts my restless and spontaneous nature to continually set up artistic problems for myself. The process of solving a problem becomes more engaging than the solution itself.

Painting instinctively, I favor subconscious association. In fantastical invented spaces, perceptually recognizable and unrecognizable images and forms find their position fluidly. These visual poems are intermingled with opposites struggling for parity, debating the interchangeability of order and chaos, reality and fantasy. I utilize materials playfully and symbolically. The layering constructs and deconstructs, covers, recovers, exposes, and transforms time, space, and language organically. Combining means and modalities such as carving, miniature painting, and gestural abstraction is inevitably a component of my fluid and conceptual process.

My painting and photographic series often parallel each other in layering and complexity. The photographs record my sensitivity to the perception of light, movement, and the drama of the moment. I use physical manipulation to create surreal compositions that extend beyond reality and visual perception.

~ Fatemeh Burnes