Saya Behnam
Artist
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About Saya Behnam
Mixed Media artist, working with natural colors extracted from plants and flowers and natural materials.
Working with materials that come directly from nature as my medium, has affected me deeply regarding my view about time, the concept of nostalgia, birth, death, and the laws of nature.
The strong power of nature in destroying, rebirthing, concealing, or revealing has a mysterious pattern. Looking at traces of what will be left behind is breath taking. While my medium is all from nature, my work is a visual translation of these patterns and laws.
I interpreted my cherishing of this through the free style of my brush stokes as they flow over each other.  This then becomes my metaphor for growth and continuous birth.  Afterwards, I either covered particular brushed passages with white, or scratched and wiped colors in a rhythmic pattern, serving as my metaphor for the destruction that occurs in nature’s cycles of life.
 


Medium:
The process of creating my colors is a very meaningful aspect of my art.
The full range of these colors only come through delicate processes where they are extracted from dried or fresh petals, plants, spices, minerals, and stones.   I try to use plants and flowers that are grown locally in my backyard or from DC Metropolitan local gardens (please click here for the process).
Like any other living thing, flowers produce different colors as a response to different weather, soil and location.  Since they are specific to the moment, time and environment they were created, each is unique, and can never be replicated.  They become singular visual aesthetic records of that unique location and time.
 
There is an unknown and uncertainty factor that enters in each time I begin extracting tones from the natural pigments and substances I have acquired.  I tend to select my colors from a specific location and allow these colors and locations to be the inspiration for the work I will then create.  
 
Process:
Through abstract, intuitive as well as intentional brush strokes, I create a space for the unfolding of layers of colors, forms, and shapes to emerge possessing their own identity, their own unique soul.  It is not just my conscious mind, but also my entire body as well as senses that unify and participate in this evolving creation.  In some pieces, the influences from my Persian background are more apparent, such as my use of poetry or phrases written in Farsi; phrases such as “I live now”, or “ I am here”.   The use of gold leaf, as well as classical Persian patterns and color palette, also play an important role in my artistic oeuvre. 
 
Philosophy:
Through my intention and the choices I make in the use of my mediums and processes, I aspire to address what I believe are universal elements that unite us all…most especially those encompassing fear.  These include fear of the new and change, the future and the unknown, the passage of time, our potential deterioration, and death.
 
While I acknowledge these so basic elements in our humanity, yet my art holds to express the rich beauty that I believe simultaneously exists, ever ready to be known, ever ready to be celebrated.  It is within the rare atmosphere of beauty that my Soul seeks solace, and which my art serves to share with all the world.
 
NOTE: All of my pieces are covered with several layers of UV protections coats to protect colors from sunlight, dust and damage.
Education
Botanical Science from Tehran University, BS
Corcoran School or art programs, Washington DC
Events
Awards and Acquisitions:

*     DC Commission on the Art and Humanities, Art Bank program, finalist years: 2015,
2016, 2018
*     Winner of 2018, grant awarded for acquisition of pieces for year 2019     
* Collection of Department of Transportation through DCAH Art Bank
* The law firm of Wiley Rein LLP, Washington DC
*     Global Art Awards finalist 2017 and 2018, organized by Middle East Art Collector
       Association (MACA) and the Wall Street Journal in Dubai  
*     Honorable mention, Hermes Creative Awards, 2015  
*     Bronze Spotlight award. LACP (League of American Communications Professionals),
​
​Residency:
Sept 2019: Buniho Creative Hub Rua Nova de São Bras, Messejana, Portugal
Exhibitions
CV For Saya Behnam

Selected Solo Shows:

2019:
IACC Community Center (Iranian-American Community Center), Northern VA July 2019

2018:
2018 (September) Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Art Center, Alexandria, VA
 
2018 (May) Artist’s Proof Gallery, Washington DC
 
2017:
 
2017 (July) Gallery B, Bethesda Urban Partnership, Maryland
 
2017 (May) Artist's Proof Gallery, Washington DC
  
2015:
 
2015 Hill Center, Washington DC
 
2013:
 
2013 Exhibit 9 Potomac, Maryland
 
2013 AITV Gallery, Virginia
 
2003:
 
2003 Mitre Corporation, Virginia

2003 US Geological Survey Headquarters (solo show), Virginia
 
Selected Group Shows:
 
2018 La Bodega Gallery, Brooklyn New York
 
2018 (Jan) Artist's Proof Gallery, Washington DC
 
2017 (Oct) McLean Projects for the Arts (ArtFest), Virginia

2017 (Jan) Strathmore Mansion, Maryland

2016 (Dec) Art Basel, Scope Miami, with Arteponte Gallery (NY& Basel)

2016 (Oct) McLean Projects for the Arts (ArtFest), Virginia
 
2016 University of Maryland, (ISWF show), Maryland

2016 NYArtExpo, New York

2015 Art Basel (Spectrum), Miami

2015 The Montpelier Center for Arts and Education, Virginia

2015 Artist's Proof Gallery, Washington DC

2014 Artist's Proof Gallery, Washington DC

2014 McLean Projects for the Arts (ArtFest), Virginia

2014 George Washington University, Washington DC

2014 Linus Gallery, Los Angeles

2013 Exquisite Collective, Argentina

2012 Illustrator Club, Washington DC

2011 Illustrator Club, Washington DC

2004 Gallery 505, Washington DC

1999 Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC
 
Awards and Acquisitions:

*     DC Commission on the Art and Humanities, Art Bank program, finalist years: 2015,
2016, 2018
*     Winner of 2018, grant awarded for acquisition of pieces for year 2019     
* Collection of Department of Transportation through DCAH Art Bank
* The law firm of Wiley Rein LLP, Washington DC
*     Global Art Awards finalist 2017 and 2018, organized by Middle East Art Collector
       Association (MACA) and the Wall Street Journal in Dubai  
*     Honorable mention, Hermes Creative Awards, 2015  
*     Bronze Spotlight award. LACP (League of American Communications Professionals),
​
​Residency:
Sept 2019: Buniho Creative Hub Rua Nova de São Bras, Messejana,Portugal


Talks and workshops:
2019- US Botanic Garden, Painting with Natural colors, Washington DC
2019 –Fall US Botanic Garden

2011 – 2013 “Digital Art” at MoDev DC and The Internet Summit, Washington DC and North Carolina

2000 “Unity in Nature and Abstraction in Painting” at the Iranian Cultural Center, Virginia

Saya has extensive experience in digital design as well (see www.design-future.com) and has worked on numerous projects across a range of sectors including government, nonprofit, and commercial organizations.
​
Education:
BS in Biology (Botany), Tehran University

Certified programs, Corcoran School of Art, Washington DC
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