Save the date, Nashville.

It's official, friends. My first solo show in Nashville is scheduled and less than a month away.

It feels like a coming of age, of sorts, since I was born and raised in this cooky city, afterall. So mark your calendars, come see art, and say howdy if you see me.

Cheers friends. :)

With love, from Israel to Iran

I'm Iranian. I'm also American. And I also lived and volunteered in Israel for a year. Coincidentally, those three countries generally don't go well together. Like, at all. But Ronny is changing all of that. From Israel to Iran, he and thousands of other Israelis are sending messages of pure love to their political enemy in an effort to alter the hateful rhetoric so often exchanged between the two [beautiful] countries.

Most unfortunately, I can't predict the future. But I do reckon that campaigns like this, for the people by the people, will serve to change our political climate, which, I think you all might agree, could use a bit of changing. Nice work, Social Media. We're proud of you.

Watch and get ready to sop your melted heart up from off the floor.

Mama's Day

Oh, mothers. What would we do without them?

Wishing you and yours a wonderful, laughter and love filled day. :)

Two weeks in pictures.

Forgive the radio silence--my MacBook went in for surgery. She's back though, complete with a new motherboard, keypad, screen, and some other stuff Apple saw fit to replace.

While waiting for her recovery I got restless and finally joined Instagram. It's wonderful, even if Facebook does own it. Here are a few shots from the last two weeks. It's starting to feel like summer over here, and I'm loving every last bit of it.

A new tree for our bedroom.

My studio floor. 

Peonies in every room.

Weeping willows and freshly cut grass.

A Tennessee necklace for a Nashville girl.

Berry picking with my mama.

And a birthday ribbon for the birthday boy. Happiest of birthdays to my love. :) You're somehow cuter every year.

Are any of you gals on Instagram? Send me a message or follow along at @alkeemi. Cheers friends!

A new painting for your Wednesday.

Just finished this commission for a collector here in Nashville.

Indian Benz, Oil on canvas, 18"x24", 2012

The painting is based on a photo I took in India, right after visiting the Taj Mahal. Capturing the colors and the details on the rickshaws was my favorite part of making this piece. Never again, however, will I agree to paint bicycles. Spokes? Are you kidding me? Had to buy an extra tiny brush to get them right.


Interested in your own commission? Send an email to Kimia.Kline@gmail.com.

Silver to Gold

Thoroughly obsessed with these brilliant wedding bands by Japan-based design firm, Torafu Architects. The rings gradually transform with time through wear and tear. 

"The thin silver coat of the ‘Gold Wedding Ring’ gets rubbed away, to unveil its 18-carat gold ring band beneath." 

I love the stunning visual representation of how the passage of time shared between two people literally makes marriage more precious as it ages. Pretty romantic.

I actually never got a wedding band (just an engagement ring) because I hate the feeling of two rings on one finger. But these rings are making me rethink that decision. Might be time to suck it up and get one.

[via DesignTaxi]

Holi

It's been nearly two months since we've been back from India, and while I don't miss the smells or the mosquitoes, I do really miss the crazy beautiful festivals like Holi.



This video stole my breath away. As far as humankind goes, I think Holi is maybe the greatest celebration we've ever come up with. Have any of you ever been a part of any Holi celebrations?

Dear Me: Letters by Luminaries to Their 16-year-old-selves

Just came across these golden letters from the book, Dear Me: A Letter to My 16-Year-Old Self. The book shares letters from Oscar and Pulitzer Prize winners, artists, musicians, and comedians to their younger, teenage selves. Emma Thompson's line, "Don't EVER EVER EVER bother to go on a diet," made me laugh out loud. 

Emma Thompson

 

 Sandra Bernhard

 

 Stephen King

 

"Equal parts poignant and entertaining, Dear Me is an endearing reminder of how much we’ve grown and, perhaps far more importantly, that the only way we grow, the only way we get things right, is by getting them horribly, horribly wrong first — and that’s quite okay."

 

[via Brain Pickings]

New paintings for your Saturday.

Just finished these four paintings. I call them my "Pale and Mild" series after a verse from The Shins' song, "Those to Come" (Pandora randomly played it as I was painting them).

"Eyeless in the morning sun you were  
Pale and mild, a modern girl
Taken with thought, still prone to care 
Makin tea in your underwear." 

What struck me about the lyrics was, it seems like "pale and mild" are always the physical qualities that women have to possess to be seen in media/advertising. These paintings act as a sort of meditation on that notion for me. Each image is based on a video still from various commercials that I appropriated--making the images actual bits and pieces taken directly from media.  

The Bluest Eye, Oil on canvas panel, 8"x10", 2012

Barbed, Oil on canvas panel, 8"x10", 2012

Seek, Oil on canvas panel, 8"x10", 2012

Race, Oil on canvas panel, 8"x10", 2012

And for any of you Pinterest-ers out there, it's always such an honor to have you gals pin my stuff, but please make sure to mention my name in the description (sometimes credit seems to get lost on there pretty quickly).

Cheers friends!

Happy Spring.

This past week we celebrated Naw Ruz, or the Persian and Baha'i "New Year" on the first day of spring, March 21st. Unlike the Gregorian calendar that starts over in the dead of winter, we begin our year with blooms and sunshine. Makes more sense to me that way.

These are some film photos I snapped while driving down California's beautiful Highway 1 South last spring. I think the mist makes them so dreamy.

 

Wishing you all a happy New Year and a beautiful spring!

Some painting news

For all you Nashville folks out there, my painting Cinder and Smoke is currently up in a group show at the Marnie Sheridon Gallery at Harpeth Hall.

Cinder and Smoke, Oil on panel, 2011

It'll be on display through April 14th, so head on over and take a peek! The gallery is accessible from the Esteswood Rd. entrance, and is open Monday through Friday 8 am to 5 pm. For more information, call 615-297-9543.

Firefly Photos

These long exposure firefly images by Tsuneaki Hiramatsu have me 100% ready for summertime. Aren't they incredible?

Will definitely be trying to take some long exposure firefly pics of my own this summer. As a little girl, my favorite part about Nashville summers was always the arrival of fireflies. It's like magic descends on the whole city. And I think these pictures capture that feeling perfectly.


[via Amarillo y Crema]

Three part series: Kanyadaan

Being back home has given me the time to finish up a three part series I started months ago, focused on the controversial dowry system in India. During my residency, I interviewed local women from a nearby village in Pondicherry regarding their personal stories and experiences during their weddings with the dowry system. 

In India when a marriage takes place, it's the bride's family that pays the groom's family a dowry.
(Fun fact: This practice began in India after British rule--it actually used to be the reverse.)

Kanyadaan I, Oil on panel, 10"x10", 2011

The paintings were inspired by a newspaper ad I read in Chennai. The advertisement was for a bride, but instead of showing her picture or sharing a bio, it was a  list of dowry items she came with, should you want to marry her. The items ranged from a TV set, an air conditioner, a chicken, a goat, and a scooter.

Ken made the observation that in the West we often see commercials for products like toothpaste or socks, filled with scantily clad women to help sell the items. In India it seems to be the reverse--the items sell the women. 

Kanyadaan II, Oil on panel, 10"x8", 2012

What's haunting about this practice is not only that marriages are often decided based on material items, but rather that thousands of women are burned every year due to insufficient dowries. If the groom's family decides they want more money after the wedding has taken place, the bride is doused in kerosene and burned in the kitchen, making it look like a kitchen accident. After her death, the groom is then free to remarry and collect a second dowry.

In 2010 there were more dowry deaths in Chennai than any other city in India (source).

Kanyadaan III, Oil on linen, 10"x10", 2012

I wanted these paintings to look and feel like pseudo-ads with bright flashy colors and slick surfaces. But I also wanted them to feel ghostly, referencing the barbaric way women are still treated in India. The series is entitled "Kanyadaan", which is the term used for the most emotional ritual in the Hindu marriage ceremony, when the father hands over his rights and duties towards his daughter to her prospective groom.

I found this recent article fascinating, ranking India as the fourth most dangerous country in the world for women. In many ways, dealing with the condition of the status of women in India was the most challenging part of my experience during our 8 months in Chennai.

AMERICA

We missed you.

And pie. A lots.

More to come, but for now we are soaking up being back stateside with friends and family.

Some initial impressions/culture shock moments I noted down in my sketch book upon arrival in O'hare International:

Everyone is huge. 

Everything is clean. 

SALAD.

And that's a rap.

After 8 months in India, we are packing up and homeward bound.

It happened kind of suddenly, since we were planning on staying until May. But Ken's visa wasn't renewed, and nobody likes getting deported, so we're leaving before that (officially) happens.

These are a few favorites from the roll of film I took during our last week in Chennai. They're mainly from around our neighborhood, Besant Nagar.

 

India is the fourth country I've lived in outside of the US, and I can honestly say it's been the most eye opening and challenging place I've ever visited, let alone lived. It's been smelly, confronting, and sticky, but it's also been beautiful. And I'm grateful for the experience...generally.  

As for post-India plans, we'll be staying with my parents in Nashville, Tennessee for a few months, and then moving to.....drum roll please.... New York! :)

And before I forget, I wanted to extend a huge thanks to all you readers who laughed at my jokes, left sweet comments on my posts, wrote me curious emails, and just simply read along. You made sharing all this adventure such a joy.

America, here we come.