Taravat Talepasand.

I discovered this artist while on a trip to San Francisco a few years ago. Taravat Talepasand is a young Iranian-American woman based in California.

Death to Bitches, Graphite and watercolor on paper, 2008.

Order of Lion and Sun, Tempera and gold leaf on panel, 2007. 

The Liberal Iranian, 2008.

Tradition Are As Follows, Graphite and watercolor on paper, 2008.

Reminds me of...Shadi Ghadirian.

Untitled, from Qajar Series, 1998.

And of course, my favorite Iranian photographer, Antoin Sevruguin, who actually was from the Qajar Dynasty. 

Looking good at Persepolis! c. 1860.

Nikki S. Lee, Parts.

The photo in the post below (showcasing my thrifty yet luxe find at the Cambridge Antiques Market) made me think of a photographer that I have admired since my days at the Fashion Institute of Technology.

Nikki S. Lee, a Korean artist, is similar to Cindy Sherman in that she takes on wildly different personas, making self-portraits. However, Lee often integrates herself with more commitment, joining whichever culture she wishes to emulate. Some of her projects include self-immersed documentation on senior citizens, Latinos, skateboarders, and drag queens. These are the kinds of ideas I had as a kid in my small, homogenous town.

I  particularly like Lee's project entitled Parts in which she, in a variety of guises, poses with a companion. The finished image shows only Lee and a brief, but lingering reminder of the person that has been cropped out of the image.

Part (14), 2002.

Part (23), 2003.