Someone Who is Not Like Anyone

This paper is in the support of the Thesis Exhibition, Someone Who Is Not Like Anyone, which includes artworks in ballpoint pen and watercolors. In the exhibition, I explore the different moods of masculinity that I observed and sought to inhabit while in the closet in Iran but which I ultimately rejected. In the process, I recreate for the viewer the aesthetics/experiences of closeted men. The paper explores how art, under various circumstances, has been a savior in my life. This paper is also an overview of the development of my artistic growth throughout the closeted years to the coming out years. I divide my artistic life into different chapters: childhood; teen years; artistic discovery; immigration and thesis exhibition. This process has gradually moved from private to public, as well as from fear to confidence.