Art Talk | Delbar Shahbaz and Shana Nys Dambrot

About

Shahbaz exhibits paintings and collages that explore themes of empowerment and victory. In order to approach  Shahbaz’s subject matter, she constructs vibrant and fantastical scenes populated by human figures, flora and fauna that oscillate between woodland and water. Working across multiple layers, she affords the audience a glimpse into a non-linear journey. She honors a journey through darkness and in response to this journey, her work celebrates a movement towards light. 

In Shahbaz’s compositions, figures devoid of ethnic or cultural distinction, speak of the artist’s desire to engage with a universal audience and evoke a bodily connection to the land. 

Through the manipulation of scale, the artist dissolves hierarchies between humankind and the natural world instead, proposing a utopian environment where harmony between species and gender might be advanced.