Iraj Zand is among artists who experimented with painting and sculpture successively. “He believed that subjective experience of an artist was more important than the method of expression. He practiced abstraction and distortion of forms in his paintings. Zand started producing sculptures in 1991, revealing a natural ability to use the medium. He gave life to solid material (alloy of brass and iron, Plexiglas). Form in his work was liberated from inertia, twisted, and started flying in space. Beauty amounted to simplicity, weightlessness, and transparency of curves.”[1]
By abstracting the notion of “movement”, Iraj Zand hurled the static, three-dimensional sculptures into a “dancing movement”. Although the artist reduced three-dimensional sculptures into two-dimensional figures, he achieved a greater dimension by making them dance. With an emphasis on reduction of lines and dimensions, Zand achieved utter simplicity, and induced a kind of movement by dramatizing the condition of sculpture and its dynamic presentation in space.
Thematically, Zand is fascinated by Persian poetry. Through philosophic lyricism, Zand presents concepts such as intuitive transparency that is symbolized by flight, as well as love and deliverance that are visualized in the twisted figures, in the circle of humanism.[2]
Some kind of spontaneity and instant effect is embedded in Zand’s sculptures; a kind of natural simplicity that is synonymous to consistency, perfection and maturity. Purity, brevity and simplicity are major qualities of works produced by Iraj Zand.[3]
[1] Pakbaz, Ruyin, Selection of Works of Iraj Zand, Nazar Publishing, 2008, p.13.
[2] Mojabi, Javad, Selection of Works of Iraj Zand, Nazar Publishing, 2008, pp. 18-19.
[3] Sahabi, Mehdi, Selection of Works of Iraj Zand, Nazar Publishing, 2008, pp. 104-105.
