Shirin Kouladje

Last Name: 
Kouladje
First Name: 
Shirin

Shirin Kouladjie was born in Iran in 1965. From an early age she discovered a fascination for mathematics, which still influences her work today. Upon graduating from high school she moved to France where she studied Medicine for three years, but left her studies unfinished to enroll in Art College as she realized her true vocation was art. She has been living in Canada since 1989 where she continues to make art and show her works around the world. Her art has been exhibited in several international exhibitions such as Bronx Museum of the Arts, Sundance Film Festival and thread waxing space in USA, FILE 2002 in S„o Paulo-Brazil, Centre D'art Contemporain de Basse-Normandie in Saint Clair-France, ISEA2002 in Japan, Istanbul Museum Web Biennial in Turkey, D.artNET online Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney-Australia, and INVIDEO in Milan-Italy. Shirin focuses on a debris of everyday life, her choice of materials are the images she finds around herself. She uses old magazines, still from television shows, toys, newspaper clippings and sometimes even instructional manuals and pieces of paper she finds on the floor. From these she assembles new concepts and ideas, coaxing the viewer to look at all too familiar images with a fresh eye. About this process, Shirin says, "I find things along the way that change my perception of the world or teach me things about people. Every picture is a new journey." The resulting artworks reflect recurring frequently melancholic themes of childhood, memory and loss. Since 1998, Shirin has focused almost exclusively on web-based art. Her websites, photomontage.com, n3xt.com and 5hirin.com have given her the gallery she has been searching for: one that is open at all hours, to all people, allowing her to communicate more directly with her audience.