Biography

Mitra Samimi – Urich is a Vermont based artist living in a small town tucked in the foothills of the beautiful Green Mountains. She was born in Tehran, Iran. After the initial childhood years of living in Tehran, and due to her father’s occupation, they moved from city to city where she learned how to adapt living among diverse cultures, giving her exposure at an early age to the various arts each culture offered.

At age eight, her family permanently moved and resided in the ancient city of Isfahan. A city known for its beautiful art and architecture, music and literature. A city landscaped with historic domes, rivers, tree line streets, and lush Persian gardens, all of which became a prefect enriching environment in her childhood to develop her passion for the arts.

She attended the Art School of Isfahan at age 17 studying art and architectural design. Soon after the Iranian regime change Mitra moved to the U.S. and attended the  University of Massachusetts to further her education.

After completing her education at the University of Massachusetts she started teaching architectural design at Hall Institute of Technology in Pawtucket, Rhode Island and her teaching career continued for three years until she gave birth to her daughter and moved her family to Vermont soon after. She spent the next five years of her career working as a designer for reputable architecture firms. Mitra started her own design Studio in 2001 www.mitradesigns.com .  Among her peers she is known for her artistic vision and her keen attention to architectural design details. Her work is well recognized and published in numerous national and regional design magazines. In recent years, she has reduced her business work hours, so she can dedicate sufficient attention to her art.

Mitra enjoys spending time with her family and takes pride in her daughter’s natural talent in filmmaking (Joonam Film) and the arts (Sierra Urich).  Mitra is also a passionate gardener and enjoys spending time in nature and the outdoors where she gets many of her inspirations for her art and poetry writing.

Artist Statement

Most of my art has a philosophical undertone, often inspired by personal and emotional experiences driven either from childhood memories, nature, or the experiences of the present. I enjoy writing poetry and sometimes I incorporate them in a Persian calligraphy form in my pieces. I am inherently drawn to doing art that connects me with nature which puts me in a peaceful and meditative state.

While most of my art reflects my quest for a better awareness of the inner self and consciousness, some of my other work becomes a venue for me to make sense of our complex social system and addresses the contradictions that exists in our culture and society. Having grown up in Iran; a mostly male dominated and oppressive society especially for women, my art has given me a place where I can express my thoughts and frustrations surrounding topics involving women and humanity as a whole.  

I have never felt comfortable with conformity. Much like life, for me art is not linear; it moves, it changes, and it evolves. As my life experiences change so does my art and the language of the artistic style I choose to express my artistic vision. Art is a process of personal and social transformation for me and through that transformation I am hoping I can make a positive impact for others.

Artist Style & Medium

As a multidisciplinary visual artist, I like challenging myself to the possibilities each artistic style and medium offers. I mostly use acrylics and ink, but I am not afraid to incorporate other mediums or materials such as; watercolor, pastels, pencil, pen, marker, or a blend of all. On some of my mixed media pieces I have used beeswax, natural dyes, old book pages, old photos, stamps, newspaper, and cloth to help me achieve a specific visual and textural mood. I often incorporate ink pen details in many of my work because it allows me to express the mood of the piece better and in a more powerful way.

I rather not limit my work to one style of art, while some of my art calls for realism, other pieces may be calling for more of a surrealistic or abstract form.  At times I blend several styles in one piece to evoke and challenge the spirit and the mind.

Poetry and Persian Calligraphy Art

I have deep passion for poetry and calligraphy as it connects me with the soul of my Persian ancestral past. In my calligraphy art work I often try to blend the two. Sometimes as I write a poem art flows, other times as I create my art, poetry flows and calligraphy art pulls it all together for me, where poetry and visual art mingles and becomes inseparable.

I like the liberty that a free form of calligraphy gives me because it allows me to create a better flow of line and movement. While some of my pieces call for simplicity of line, others call for more complex or detailed traditional drawing and calligraphy lines. I find the gestural movements of Persian calligraphy extremely poetic and powerful.