ARTIST’S STATEMENT

“I think that what a person normally goes to the cinema for is time: for time lost or spent or not yet had. He goes there for living experience; for cinema, like no other art, widens, enhances and concentrates a person’s experience—and not only enhances it but makes it longer, significantly longer.” Andrei Tarkovsky (filmmaker, 1932-1986)

I spent my childhood in West Asia watching American movies, on a loop, since access to films was rather limited. Both my parents and maternal grandmother were passionate about mainly American & some European cinema so I grew up with the same fascination about film, and later the art of filmmaking.

Martin Scorsese has often said that “casting is 85 to 90 percent of the picture for me.” I wholly concur – including during my still-picture making processes. My Art + Film paintings, which comprise a huge percentage of my work, start with casting the main character(s), and deal with deciphering the texture of the character (not necessarily the actor’s) personality.

As an artist, this exploration for characters help write the story in motion (film) and still (paintings) pictures which guide my choices for each composition, from media, the palette, the brushwork, choice of lens and camera, etc.

Homa’s solo exhibition of pop art at the Robert Foster Fine Arts on Nantucket, in Summer 2022. All photos taken with iPhone 12 Pro.