ARTIST’S STATEMENT

People go to the movies for time. For time lost, time stolen, time we haven’t lived yet. Tarkovsky said it best — and he wasn’t wrong.

I grew up in West Asia watching American films on a loop (because options were limited, and also because my family was obsessed in the best possible way). My parents and my maternal grandmother loved cinema, and I inherited that love the way some people inherit cheekbones.

Which is why most of my paintings start like a film: with casting. Scorsese says casting is 85–90% of the picture. I agree — even when the picture doesn’t move.

My Art + Film paintings (a big portion of my work) begin with choosing the main character(s), then studying what makes them tick: not just the actor, but the texture of the character’s personality.

From there, everything is decided by the “cast”: the palette, the brushwork, the medium, the lens, the camera (yes, even when I’m painting). I build each composition the way a director builds a scene — with intent, rhythm, and a little suspense..

Orson Welles once said an artist has to be out of step with their time. I’d add: sometimes you have to be out of step with the room, too.

For three decades, cinema and theater have shaped my work across different media.

And long before I knew what a “practice” was, I was already living inside one: I’m the daughter of a painter — my mother, Pooran Cheknian — and I grew up with the scent of oil paint and turpentine in the kitchen. She painted constantly until her death in 2008.