Ahoo Maher

Tell us about yourself. What is your background and where did you grow up? How have your life experiences shaped your work?

I grew up in an artistic family in Tehran, Iran. From an early age, I came into contact with visual art and artists - both my parents are artists and as a child, I was always encouraged to follow the creation and implementation of their projects. I also started very early to create my own art. Despite this, at the age of nine, I decided to enter the world of music and spent most of my time practicing and playing cello. I eventually moved to Vienna at the age of seventeen to study music. This was the point when I realized what an important role visual art plays in my life and how much I missed it. The result was a return to visual art and specifically a return to painting. I now work as a freelance visual artist and curator in Vienna.

From an early age, I have been exposed to the aesthetics of Iranian contemporary art and miniature painting and these persistently continue to be an important influence on my artistic practice.

Why did you become an artist and what has been your journey up to this point?

Painting is the language that I can use to express myself and communicate with the world. Through the support of my family and the artistic environment they created for me, they provided me with the opoortunity to consciously choose my own artistic path. After years of experimenting and playing around with music, performance, and painting I realized that drawing and painting are my chosen mediums, and that through imagery I can best express myself.

I studied Contextual Painting at the academy of fine arts Vienna, where I was able to experiment with many different mediums and learn how to develop my concepts and bring them into implementation.

What is an average day in your studio like and what is your routine? What is your creative process?

For me I think there is almost no routine. Every day is unique and special. Most days I take notes regarding the topics that are currently my concern. One of the most time-consuming parts of the artistic process is to develop, modify and improve the concepts. Once I have decided upon a concept/subject, then the process of calculating and collecting material begins. I make sketches (partly on paper or digitally) which will eventually be developed into large format images.

Apart from my large-scale paintings I maintain a separate daily drawing diary made up of small-format drawings inspired by or depicting everyday situations.

Therefore, a day in the studio varies depending on which stage I am in the creative process.

How do you choose a medium for your work? Do you prepare and plan or do you improvise and experiment?

Sometimes I am aware from the beginning that the image should be realized with a certain medium, but sometimes it evolves or changes during the creation process itself. But generally, I do a lot of planning and make sketches before I implement the final version.

Are your works conveying a message? Is there a narrative or a story to your work?

Yes, almost all my pictures have a story – my story! My work reflects the things that are important to me and my world views. Some works are clearly critical while others are merely “neutral” depictions which invite the viewer to come to their own conclusions.  

Who and what are some of your greatest influences in both your life and as an artist?

Traveling and observing people are the greatest influences on my artistic process. I learnt this from my father, how he looks at the world and how he reflects it in his art. I try to be a spectator of situations and record moments with my memory and photography. Combining the memories, photos, and sketches together to create a unique individual moment.

There are also many figurative painters who have influenced my paintings like Lucian Freud, David Hockney, and many others.

Do you consider your work of art creation or a discovery?

A very difficult question because the creative process is also a process of discovery. But in this case, I would say I discover special moments and with them I create images.