Professor’s Collages Help Celebrate Art Museum Centennial

Two collages by Dr. Roshanak Keyghobadi, adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Visual Communications: Art & Graphic Design, have been selected for the “Long Island Biennial” at Heckscher Museum of Art, in Huntington. The exhibition runs 10/15 through 1/10, 2021.

“I am honored for this recognition, and looking forward to sharing my artworks and start a collective conversation and reflection,” says Dr. Keyghobadi.

She began teaching at FSC in 2000, but left after five years to pursue her doctorate in Art and Art Education at Columbia University. Dr. Keyghobadi returned to Farmingdale in 2019.

“As a graphic designer by training, my art and designs have always been about clarity, control, structure and simplicity,” she says of her work. “Thirty years ago, when I discovered paper making, I found its process and outcome in such contrast to my professional practice that I immediately was drawn to the organic, chaotic and liberating nature of it.

“I have always been engaged with language, writing and typography.  Narratives, sentences, words and letters are the main components of my art in any medium that I choose to work.  My handmade paper and stitch series are my explorations in the realm of dichotomies.  By deconstructing a structured unit such as a book, newspaper or magazine and reconstructing  it in a new form I search, find and create new contexts and meanings.

“When I tear apart a page of newspaper, soak it in water, transform it to pulp and  make a piece of paper, the sentences become broken and words misplaced. Through this process I break apart the physical and intellectual nature of the written matter and reintroduce new possible poetic interpretations.  Hand stitching as a ritual adds another dimension to my creative process which is unifying and meditative.”

Dr. Keyghobadi has published essays and exhibited her work internationally. One of her collages will appear in the fall print and digital editions of Fiber Art Now, and as part of their “Emerging Artists 2020” juried show.

“Long Island Biennial” features 52 artists from Nassau and Suffolk counties.