Graphic Design Exhibit, Challenges of Immigration

Graphic designer and illustrator Maedeh Asgharpour explained how she constructed her mixed media exhibit “From Illustration to Design'' at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, October 31 in Room 101 of the Carr Education-Fine Arts Building. “From Illustration to Design '' focuses on the immigrant artist experience, and interested people can view the exhibit in Gallery 193 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday until November 3.

Based in California, Asgharpour immigrated to the U.S. from Iran and found inspiration in the freedom of expression and her experiences as an immigrant artist. Her artworks express the challenges that immigrants face, including the psychological aspects, such as the amount of pressure and loneliness she felt at first. “Immigrant beliefs are the combination of their past experiences and their dreams of the future are illustrated on the canvas,” Asgharpour said.

Asgharpour combines traditional creative processes such as printmaking and painting with technologies like animation. Her techniques include printmaking, painting, poster making, graphic design and story illustration. “In general, the text and the image are displayed not individually but together, and images provide the viewer more information than just the text,” Asgharpour said.

However, she prefers posters, because they integrate both text and illustration and explained that the situation of text alongside illustration is an integral component of her work. Because of the ability to convey messages through text and image layouts, “designing a poster is the most interesting aspect of graphic design for me,” Asgharpour explained.

She wrote a collection of short poems and illustrated versions of “1001 Nights” and “Layla and Maymun.”

“For illustrating a story, I find the best parts of the story that the audience would like to see,” Asgharpour said. “It’s important for me to make the story more attractive for the reader.”

Eventually, she wanted to move her characters, saying that 2D was not enough for her. Thus, she moved toward graphic design, creating animations and participatory art to convey “things that cannot be expressed in one breath.” 

Using repetition, proximity and placement, Asgharpour creates unity in her work. “I create an ambiguous and obscured atmosphere to immerse the viewer,” she said. Explaining that humor is thought-provoking, she used a humorous perspective to show the bitter reality and “errors and undesirable aspects of human behavior.” She referred to the American graphic designer Seymour Chwast as her inspiration for contemporary layouts of text and images.

To create her works, Asgharpour uses carving tools and printmaking techniques to create the narrative. For example, she used a press machine to carve linoleum. Overall, she aims to convey her messages to increase awareness of life as an immigrant and encourage women to fight for their freedom to do what they want. 

“There’s a bigger need to know more about the narrative of immigrants’ life, particularly the challenges that immigrants face,” she said.

Asgharpour holds a master’s degree in creative practice from the University of Texas at Dallas along with a master’s degree in graphic design from the University of Tehran in Iran.