Partial scholarships available by request to info@surelsplace.org

Artist in residence Ainaz Alipour will introduce you to her traditional Iranian embroidery techniques and how this can be integrated with 2D animation, emphasizing cultural representation and self-expression. You will receive hands-on practice with basic stitches and patterns from northern Khorasan. Using these skills, you will create a small textile panel. Then, the participants will work together to create a small collaborative animation project integrating your embroidered piece.

BIOGRAPHY

Ainaz Alipour (b. Iran) is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice explores the interplay between textile traditions and contemporary artistic expression, emphasizing cultural representation in art and its potential to challenge power structures. Drawing from Iranian cultural imagery, she creates installations that integrate soft sculptures, utilizing local sewing crafts and embroidery techniques from northern Khorasan. Alipour's work focuses on the dynamics and politics of bodies, engaging viewers through tactile fabric-based forms that challenge colonial representations and assert the presence and agency of marginalized bodies. Her multimedia installations have been recognized and awarded, with curated screenings at the Rochester Contemporary Art Center and exhibitions at the Ringling Museum of Art and the Mattie Kelly Art Center.

Ainaz Alipour received her MFA in Studio Arts from the University of South Florida; her MA in Animation and Film from Trabiat Modares University in Tehran, Iran; and a BFA in Printmaking from the Tehran University of Art.