Hasti Sardashti
Biography
Hasti Sardashti is an Iranian artist living in London/UK. She is a thinker, a dreamer and a creator. In order for her to be, to dream , to create and to express herself, she sets fluid boundaries within her work with a desire to move and rebel.
What’s your background?
My background is complicated and is not linear. I guess like so many other artists, art has been a part of my existence since I can remember. To me art is like my skin: I breath through it, in and out, it keeps me alive and holds me together, I can neglect it but I cannot get rid of it. I trained as a drawer and worked in a small architecture firm for few years after I finished high school. A few years later, I was accepted for an architecture degree at one of the universities in Tehran but I had left Iran just before in October 1984. I got my MA in Film Studies from Nottingham University in 2004 and a MA in Art Therapy from the University of Hertfordshire in 2010. I think my education in film studies might have affected my art most although this might not be obvious to viewers.
I was born in Iran in the early 1960s. In addition to my early personal experiences, I was, like my generation, subject to the collective trauma arising from the new Islamic regime, during my last few years at school until I left Iran in 1984. Obviously, the effect of these traumas and the subsequent traumas of migration, loss and having to start everything from scratch in an unfamiliar environment do affect my art and the person I am. After leaving Iran in 1984, my life took a different turn, and I made choices which I believed at that time were the best for me, in order to become an independent woman and to follow my ideals. I chose medicine once I was eligible to apply after three years living in Germany. I felt I had to train my brain and myself in a totally different way, but it also meant I had to neglect the artist in me when I started my medical degree. Over the last few decades, I have been consciously and consistently trying to find a way back to my artist roots. I tried learning several art forms and did my degrees in Film Studies and in Art Therapy to recapture my artist identity and the confidence which I felt I had lost as an artist. Since 2002, I have been creating works consistently with one or two group exhibitions in 2010 and 2011. Since 2016, I’ve mainly focused on my art and have exhibited nationally and internationally.
My art is very personal and bold. I need my art to tell my story and connect. I believe art brings out the most genuine part of me, something that is not always known even to myself; it rouses my curiosity to learn more about myself. Making art leads me to self-discovery and growth. My finished projects make me feel somewhat less lonely.
What does it mean to you to win the Collectors Art prize?
When I received the first email from Contemporary Art Curator informing me I’d won the prize, I was hit with a sense of disbelief and mistaken identity, so I didn’t do anything about it. The second email a few days later made me think it must be true. This was when I felt this warm feeling of happiness together with a sense of achievement. I’ve gone through my life believing no one actually saw or noticed me. The fact that Contemporary Art Curator is noticing me and my art with this prize means a lot to me and I am very grateful.
What do you think is the role of art in the world today?
I believe our society increasingly needs people who see and feel things differently and offer a different way of approaching our common problems, as the system and the people in power keep failing us to the point that our overall existence and the existence of future generations is in serious danger. Artists have always been one of the groups of people having a different sensitivity, a different vision and different problem-solving approaches to society’s issues big and small, and we need them more than ever.
Growing up in 1960 and 70s in Iran, my generation believed that if one wanted to change the world and make any difference to one’s life and those of others, one had to become a physician or activist or both, like Che Guevara maybe. Over the years and especially now, I’ve become more and more convinced that art and artists have a crucial role in making a difference to our lives and in changing the world to a better place.
What would it be if you could change one thing about the art world?
I am a woman, a nonconformist and an outsider artist. I do already have the best criteria to be excluded from the art world. I believe what we need is maybe an alternative art world in which I and people like me could also feel included.
What are your most significant professional achievements?
I feel I haven’t reached the pinnacle of my artistic achievements yet, but I am certain I will one day. For now, the mere act of tirelessly creating new works, of constantly learning new things and of being courageous enough to try out new styles no matter what others (or the art world ) might think of me, is for me a big achievement.
What do you wish to tell viewers about your work that might not come out explicitly? What do you hope to inspire with your art work?
As I said before with my art I am just telling my story and expressing my ideas, dreams and emotions in the best way I can, in an attempt to connect with myself, others and the world around me. I do not make art merely because I want to inspire others. I just try to communicate the most genuine part of myself with my art, and if someone out there consciously or unconsciously feels some emotional, intellectual or spiritual connection to my work, out of this connection the feeling of inspiration might arise. I believe inspiration is a dynamic process and not linear.
What advice would you give to the upcoming generation of artists?
I am not a person who likes giving advice. I am also not sure if the young generation of artists wants or even needs my advice.
The rapid changes in the world in the last decades have shaped the new generations in a fundamentally different way. Young people become increasingly the ones who are leading and not the ones who are led. The generation gap is getting bigger, and my generation has to work very hard to keep up with all this new development if we still want to be a part of these young people’s lives, whether this relates to the climate change movement being led globally by a 17-year-old school girl from Sweden , or to the women’s rights movement with young schoolgirls in Iran leading the Woman-Life-Freedom movement there and inspiring women all around the world, or to the LGBTQ rights that young people are fighting tirelessly for.
The young generation of artists will be dealing with all this themselves and I want them to know that it is our duty to support them in their lives and careers if they want us to even if we might not fully understand them.
In what direction would you like to see your career go in the next five years?
I tend to create large-scale art works and my dream for years has been for someone, some museum or some gallery with big walls to offer me a large space that I can tell my story and show some of my favourite art works.
Country United Kingdom
Website www.hastisardashti.com
