Dara Aram

BIOGRAPHY

Dara Aram is a Toronto based contemporary painter who has  studied fine art at the Suleymani Institute of Fine  Art in Kurdistan and at the Ontario College of Art in Toronto, Canada.  Since 1980, Aram has painted and created installations.

Artists, since time immemorial, have conveyed their message with images rather than logical, linear statements.  Dara Aram’s art does precisely this.  It is a journey into the imaginary realms of the unconscious.  The abstract forms and mythological themes that emerge on his canvas serve as an inspiration to modern industrialized man, who urgently needs to reconnect with his lost soul. This soul lies languishing under the weight of our modern, cold, corporate world where profits and statistics reign supreme over the human spirit. Humanity needs desperately to find spiritual security in this mechanized epoch of globalization.

Over the past year, Dara’s impassioned search for meaning has found hope and inspiration in the motifs of Mesopotamian history and mythology.  Mesopotamia, from the Greek meaning “between two rivers,” is the fertile land flanked by the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers.  Also known as the “Cradle of Civilization,” it, today, clearly maintains a vital and crucial place in the destiny of humankind.

Aram has exhibited 75 solo and group shows world wide in galleries and museums, including Japan, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, the UK, Middle East and North America. He has received numerous grants and awards.  Also, he has been interviewed by newspapers, magazines and TV.  Aram’s works are in private and public collections such as the Canadian Embassies  in Denmark and in Sweden. Mr. Irvin Zuker, a prominent art collector from Hamilton, Ontario and well known Canadian artists Leonard Cohen and Doris McCarthy and Mayor of Richmond Hill Mr. Dave Barrow and York Regional Chief of Police Mr. Armand P. La Barge own Aram’s works. He has donated numerous works to charities and cultural events.

He has lectured and taught at a number of colleges, universities, elementary and secondary schools.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Cascades of Time: During my painting career, I have produced and experimented with figurative, abstract, landscape and installation techniques. The past subjects have included the Environment combining Children and Women’s oppressive struggles in various political situations. 

I have painted in between four Walls for decades.  After having lived a life of exile, escaping a corrupt and unfair system of life, everywhere is an exile no matter what.  The only things that make my life have meaning and strength is creating peace in painting and telling stories of women and nature where ever I live.  I think to survive in this world, it is best to connect with women and nature. These things are my strongest passions for an existence.  Painting and listening to music is the way of my life.

Following my graduation from the Suleymani Institute of Fine Arts in Kurdistan, I began my refuge from Kurdistan and witnessed many of the horrible atrocities against innocent civilians, towns and villages.  When I arrived in Canada, I studied at the Ontario College of Art.

In past works I have used mixed media to portray human rights events; various metals to create installations, photo montage and acrylic paints; sculpture materials to build life-sized figures; Thick layers of textured, acrylic paints mixed with gel provide the background for my subjects. My search for meaning in past projects has found hope and inspiration in the motifs of Mesopotamian history and mythology.  Mesopotamia, from the Greek meaning “between two rivers,”  also known as the “Cradle of Civilization, clearly maintains a vital and crucial place in the destiny of humankind.

My new work is a continuation of the exploration of visual expression about the human relationship with others and with nature. These contemporary works reflect my daily views from my balcony overlooking the Toronto skyline….Mystical shadows and lines combined with the colourful sky formations and nature inspire these works….Watery images, dark misty horizons and whimsical forms fuel the soul’s imagination…Continuing with my former themes, I have incorporated abstracted forms of women in these recent paintings.  The works are simplified, depicting three main layers of strata floating with splashes of whimsical forms found amidst the horizon lines, orchestrating the history and music of time and the ever changing environmental landscape.

Artists, since time immemorial, have conveyed their message with images rather than logical, linear statements. In this series, my new works in progress attempt to portray a journey into the imaginary realms of the unconscious.  I hope that the mystical images, forms and environmental themes that are emerging in these paintings will serve as an inspiration to modern, industrialized man, who urgently needs to reconnect with his lost soul, a soul that lies languishing under the weight of our modern, cold, corporate world where profits and statistics reign supreme over the human spirit and the environment.