Intimate and fleeting moments are frozen in time by Iranian-American painter, Kimia Ferdowsi. The warm attention paid to moments of transition grew from Ferdowsi' own experience as a youth. The daughter of Iranian refugees, Ferdowsi spent much of her childhood navigating between cultures, transitioning between worlds. Both her Persian roots and western influences are evident in the vibrant patterns and meditations on the female form in her work.

Ferdowsi's conception of transition further evolved due to a stint working in New York City. For Ferdowsi, the city's relentless motion evoked the rhythms of her childhood. Arresting motion and seizing the moment became an important pursuit in her paintings.

Ferdowsi's recent works have turned to more narrative and lyrical subject matter. Subjects, including friends, family, and fellow painters, perhaps provide a glimpse into the transitions in the artist's own life.

Kismot: Meditations upon the female form is a recurring theme in your work. Why is the female figure an important element in your work?

Ferdowsi: Conventions of beauty have always fascinated me, and the female form is one of the avenues through which I chose to explore this theme. Additionally, from historical context, women have for centuries been painted by men through the male gaze. As a female artist, I am curious about the objectification of women and the role of the female gaze in art making.

K: Although you have lived in many countries throughout your life, your parents were originally refugees from Iran. What elements of Persian culture have been most influential in your work?

F: The elements that have been most influential in my work are composition and pattern. Growing up in a house filled with Persian carpets, calligraphies and miniatures, I couldn't resist the influence.

K: Your work often integrates elements of both Persian and American culture. While the differences between these two cultures may be more readily apparent, what similarities have you found though your work?

F: One of my favorite painters, Alex Kanevsky, advised his students to, "Forget the subjective, it is mostly trivial. Go for the universal." The idea of the universal, of the underlying commonalities in all cultures, is what I've come to focus on through my art. As we witness the continuing emergence of a global community, the idea of the universal has become more relevant to us all. The seeming differences in Persian and American culture, or in any culture, begin to dissipate when viewed in a universal context.

K: How did the use of light, and particularly its relationship with time, became an important part of your work?

F: Just as people are defined by their motion, I wanted to somehow define motion through light. At this point light became an indispensable component in my investigation of depicting the ephemeral. I tried to somehow paint it so that it seemed to glimmer or flicker. I think this study was most successful in my "Rubyn" painting.

K: Your work often captures fleeting moments in time. What draws you to depict these moments?

F: Transition or change is something that every human understands and relates to. To exist implies that we must change. Often times the process of change includes sadness, a letting go or giving up of what was. At the same time, there is beauty in the process of renewal. My interest in depicting these moments lies at the intersection of sadness and beauty, at a sort of liminal zone. These instances visually describe the emotive and stirring, the provocative and sensitive. My paintings are attempts at seizing and stilling the fleeting, pursuits in arresting motion. I wanted to infuse the work with a sense of urgency, of continual loss and renewal. Their content therefore, is not the literal image on the canvas, but rather the emotions we experience while in the presence or process of transition.