TEAR SERIES

This series came to Mashian during a retreat, where she was engaged in a meditation of tears.

“This is a spiritual practice where one sheds tears to release oneself from the trauma and pain that we carry in our body It is a way to free you from painful experiences and to find a deeper connection to yourself. During the meditation, the image of a painting of tears came to me, so when I returned home, I created these works.”

-Haleh Mashian

Throughout this series, Mashian creates large flat teardrop shapes using molding paste, plexiglass and paint crackle to build up ridges around each of the shapes She also includes smaller teardrops, some that lie flat and others that bulge and protrude, adding more relief to their texturized and complex surfaces

Along with sadness, there is humor and glamour embedded in each of her Tear paintings; the rich crags, glitter eruptions and paint drips not only emote a sad and powerful sensation, but also carry a funky and engaging charm

"There is pathos in just how far the artist went to discover this strange mix of beauty and the beast. Her Tears are a glittering, funkadelic, disco mash-up; shedding tears under a bright full moon It expresses in equal parts: humor, joy, play and seriousness, in its ambition to find this unique blend of the masculine and feminine "