Tezh Modarressi, “We Hardly Go Outside,” 6 X 6 inches, oil and encaustic on wood
Tezh Modarressi’s latest exhibition at F.A.N. Gallery, “Now You See It. . . “ (as in . . . and now you don’t) represents two years of work, painting in oil and encaustic on wood. Buildings, vehicles and nature are shown as they are on the brink of disappearing. Tezh finds these images eerily sad, but also compelling. The rough wood combined with the wax medium, is meant to reinforce the sense of time’s passage.
What is your first creative memory?
The first creative memory I have is sitting in Quaker meeting, next to a family friend (an artist) who was drawing. When she noticed me watching she passed me the sketch so that I could copy it. As I started copying it the time flew by. I remember thinking, “This is great! When I get home I’m gonna need some more paper.”
Tezh Modarressi, “Get Out Of The Cold,” 9 X 9 inches, oil and encaustic on wood
Do you have a creative habit? How do you shape your art making practice to nurture your work?
My only habit is that I need to be in my studio early in the morning. I put on music and have a cup of coffee. By mid afternoon I start overworking and over thinking my work. That’s when I should leave the studio, not even go back to do small touch ups.
My only habit is that I need to be in my studio early in the morning. I put on music and have a cup of coffee. By mid afternoon I start overworking and over thinking my work. That’s when I should leave the studio, not even go back to do small touch ups.
You have fun and interesting titles to your work. How do you come up with your titles?
I think I make up little scenarios about the places I’m painting. Sometimes the titles are little inside jokes I’ve made with myself about what I picture is going on. While I’m working on a painting I write notes on the margins that I go back to when I title them. Other paintings I just instantly know what I’m going to call them when I start to draw the first draft.
Tezh Modarressi, a Baltimore native, graduated from the Rhode lsland School of Design in 1988. She currently lives in Philadelphia. Her work centers around abandoned cars, houses, barns and outside scenes. Modarressi works in encaustic medium. She feels the layering and building up of wax on a wood surface in the encaustic process works well with these subjects. Tezh works in both oil on paper and encaustic mediums depending on how she’d like to show off the subject.
Tezh Modarressi, “Save Me,” 7 X 7 inches, oil and encaustic on wood
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