Yasaman Dehghan

Yasaman is a passionate watercolourist who enjoys exploring a variety of subjects such as landscapes, cityscapes, figures, portraits, seascapes and so on. She started painting as a hobby when she was a child. Initially, she started off with oil painting but after a while she realized that oil painting was not the right medium for her. She felt like she needed something more subtle, energetic and fluid. Hence, she turned into watercolour which she found the best medium suiting her personality.

When she was only 16, she obtained the first prize of the Student Art Competition in Iran. A year later, her work made it to the finale of the Iranian Young Art Festival 2004. While learning watercolour from one the most famous Iranian watercolourist, late Jamaleddin Khoraminejad, Yasaman started her bachelor in architecture at the National University of Iran. Later, she did a master’s in urban design. Studying architecture and working as an architectural/urban designer have boosted up her innovative skills in drawing, perspective, and illustration.

Yasaman moved to Brisbane in 2014 and became an active member of Watercolour Society of QLD while still working as an architectural and urban designer. In 2019, she moved to Melbourne and since then she has been a member of Watercolour society of Victoria. She has expanded her knowledge and skills through participating in Julian Bruere’s online courses. She has attended leading artists workshops such as Julian Bruere, Alvaro Castagnet and Joseph Zbukvic.

Yasaman has regularly participated in art exhibitions. Her paintings have been highly commended for capturing subject’s character, essence and light. She has won awards for her work in different exhibitions such as Watercolour Society of QLD, MacGregor Lions Club, and Knox art show.

Yasaman has a great passion for teaching watercolour. She aims to build students’ confidence in watercolour to tackle different subjects. She taught watercolour for WSQ while she lived in Brisbane. She’s been teaching and holding workshops for the Kensington Neighbourhood House since 2019.

Statement

Watercolour, for me, is a journey of materialising my feelings for the subject, its context, and its story through the most beautiful and ethereal medium of painting. To me, watercolour is poetic, subtle, and imagery, a storytelling tool to create mystery, explicit, and beauty. I like the fact that watercolour is unpredictable just like destiny. I can’t predict what exactly is going to happen in my painting, I can only guide it towards my intention. It is about embracing the simultaneity of spontaneity and control in watercolour which, I believe, addresses the ambiguity and beauty of life. One can’t be too decisive or certain about every step they take in life.

When I paint, I try to trust my intuition and let my feelings and perception along with the intrinsic fluidity of water give me what I would like for that subject of painting. Sometimes this may not happen, but when it happens, it becomes my manifestation of the subject’s story.

I don’t limit my work to any special subject and I like to experience a variety of subjects such as landscapes, cityscapes, portraits, seascapes and so on. But I mainly enjoy painting portraits. Each face has a story to tell and I love to depict that story trough my artwork. I believe that my paintings should be relatable to people or let people make connection with it if they desire to.