The Broken Bull
Artist Statement
The Broken Bull is a long-term project that began with sketches I made while living in Iran, when I was thinking about how I felt as part of the people around me. I was watching recordings of matador bullfights and began to identify with the bull. In the spectacle of the bullfight, the animal is provoked, forced into aggression, and then punished for behavior that was never its own choice. That dynamic became a way for me to understand feelings of pressure, manipulation, and collective frustration.
The project developed further after I moved to the United States, where I created a large painting that was exhibited at the Star Store Gallery in downtown New Bedford as part of the Glimpse exhibition. From that point, the work shifted from painting alone toward sculptural forms. I became interested in giving my images physical presence in the room rather than keeping them confined to the wall.
The sculptural works combine small acrylic paintings on plywood with constructed forms made from wood, scrap metal, paper mâché on wire mesh, plaster, and 3D printed components. By joining these elements, the works form partial bodies of bulls, sometimes a torso, sometimes a skull, sometimes only fragments of bone. The figures appear skeletal, damaged, or incomplete, suggesting a body that has already been exhausted or defeated.
Alongside these forms, I introduced what I call witnesses. These are hollow, 3D printed eyeballs fitted with pink light bulbs. The eyes emit an intense pink light that fills the space and alters the viewer’s perception. The eye, which is normally a receiver of light, becomes a source of light instead. It functions as a silent observer, present but inactive, watching without intervening. The light dominates the room and drains the surrounding space of visual balance.
In the installation, the bull is placed low, often on the ground, while the glowing eyes are positioned above. The viewer’s attention moves between looking down at the remains of the animal and looking up at the illuminated witnesses. The center of the space remains empty, creating a void between these two positions. Within a dark room, the intensity of the pink light produces visual fatigue. After several minutes, the eye adapts to the color, and when the viewer exits the space, the surrounding world appears temporarily green.
