Gatheirng Women Acrylic on Canvas 60” x 36”
Born in Iran, the artist Fariba Baghi was initially nurtured by her native country’s great artistic traditions, but her search for a more open country led her to Canada, where she now lives and works. That pursuit of openness is a defining factor in Baghi’s technique and style. “I am not bound to one medium or method of painting,” she says. From such traditional materials as oils and acrylics on canvas to paste, cement and even coffee on paper, she brings a wide variety of textures and colors to her images. From drips, swirls and areas of paint that seem to flow across the canvas to clean, sharp lines that have the exactitude of hand lettering, she employs a vocabulary of painting styles as broad as the selection of media she uses.
Baghi’s color palette is also striking. Whether she is using a burst of bright orange to separate a group of women from their background or is exploring how subtle differences in tone can give a sense of movement and depth to an abstract image, she is always aware of how color affects the viewer and employs that knowledge effectively. The images that result are both intriguing snapshots of the human condition and engaging experiments in color and form.