Yalda Bozorg
Based in Campbellton, Yalda Bozorg is an innovative ceramic artist whose sculptural work was selected by the jury for its outstanding technical and intellectual achievement. A graduate of the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design, Ms. Bozorg is currently a PhD candidate of Art and Design at Cardiff Metropolitan University. Her work is represented by Gallery on Queen in Fredericton.
The jury was challenged by the richness and depth of Yalda Bozorg’s project titled “Change”. In her application she described the “intangible change” that victims of domestic abuse felt through “losing their personality” or “becoming unrecognizable”. Through experimentation and manipulation of her clay and plaster sculptures, coupled with the introduction of metal enamels and addition of shards and flowers, there is a significant change to the surface. Ultimately her experimentation adds an element life and hope to the work. Her creation of ten sculptures telling ten stories opens the viewer to the visual metaphors of abuse by giving them a permanent voice. The jury was in agreement that the raw power of this work deserved to be recognized with a Marie Hélène Allain Fellowship Award.
In addition to recognizing the career achievements of an artist, the Marie Hélène Allain Fellowship is a support for new work during the Fellowship period. Yalda Borzog’s plan for her Fellowship year is a natural progression of the body of work she has been making for the last three years. Focused on examining global realities of fear, isolation and solitude, the artist plans to experiment with an electroform process to transform the surfaces and colors of clay, plaster and metal to extend the power of her evocative sculptures. As characterized by her nominator, Tom Smart, “Bozorg’s art has the extraordinary power to shape the way we see current events. The SHMF wishes her well in her Fellowship year.
