BLANK CANVAS with Mostafa Faraji delivered at RosnyCollege
Mostafa’s vision for this workshop is to provide a creative and expressive space online offering community the opportunity to share in the 'joy of drawing and painting'. This session aims to develop participants creative skills while encouraging a connection to expressing feelings and emotions through exploring the medium of oil paint or charcoal.
SUITABLE FOR AGES: 12+
MATERIAL REQUIREMENTS: Basic oil painting materials & large canvas surface to paint on or charcoal drawing materials & paper
“Art is a way of communicating with the world around me” - Mostafa Faraji
When I arrived in Tasmania I found myself struggling with speaking English and making friends. Through my paintings I discovered a way to communicate my emotions through art and expressing my relationship with the landscape.
I left my home country of Iran and all that I knew behind at the age of 15 to travel by boat to Australia as an asylum seeker. Upon arrival to Australia I was detained on Christmas Island where I spent two years in detention. While on Christmas Island I became friends with several detainees who were later sent to Manus Island. To cope with the grief of losing my friends I taught himself how to draw in detention. I was denied access to paint so many of my earlier works where landscapes with no colour.
I was released from detention at the age of 17 which allowed me access to paint. Painting has taught me how to interact with love, by using my art to express the beauty of the landscape I saw through the windows whilst in detention and when I arrived in Tasmania. My first painting was ‘Snowy Mountain’ which was inspired by the snow on Mount Wellington. I continued to paint throughout high school and was awarded the 2016 Tasmania school art prize mural ‘Timeline.’
I specialise in oil painting and my current body of work explores climate change and the increasing fire risks in Tasmania. Inspired to give back to the Tasmanian community, I believe in helping provide healing for people who have experienced trauma by turning the story around through art.
Artist Mostafa Faraji