サハールカルカリアン is an Iranian-born artist currently residing in Canada whose work explores powerful and traumatic themes including separation, isolation, as well as loss of humanity and identity. As a child, Khalkhalian experienced the 8 year Iran-Iraq War where she saw firsthand just how easily an individual’s humanity and identity could be shattered or ripped away to become only a fleeting memory for those who manage to survive. Following this, she and her sister emigrated to Germany at the age of 13, where she again had to experience the loss of identity and feelings of isolation that are common to immigrants in an alien culture. As a result Khalkhalian’s paintings center directly on expressing these feelings to the viewer which are so hard to express with words alone.

カルカリアンは彼女の仕事を仕事として扱っていません。むしろ、彼女は本当に刺激を受けたと感じたときにのみ働くように努めています。それが喜んで幸せであろうと、完全に荒廃したものであろうと。この時期にのみ仕事をすることで、彼女は自分の仕事を生で本物に保つことができ、彼女が望むときにそれらを探すのではなく、彼女が感じているときに伝えようとしている感情を捉えることができます。