Taraneh Mozoun 

ceramic objects, the Netherlands

Taraneh Mozoun, born in Iran in 1951 has lived in the Netherlands since 1979.
She studied ceramics and then interior architecture at the School of Arts and Technology in Tehran, and then taught art and art history at high school level until 1979.

The revolution of that year changed everything. Within 24 hours she went from being a respected teacher to a refugee, because she was a Bahá´í. Like most Bahá´ís she was not allowed to work and this is still the case today in Iran.

Her and her husband, who also lost his job, had no choice but to leave Iran and so they bought a ticket to fly to the Netherlands, choosing this country because Taraneh's grandfather used to live there.

The first five years in the Netherlands were very hard and there was no room for creative expression. The she began painting birds in gouache, moving onto still life compositions in watercolour, and then into modelling forms in clay. Her first exhibition of her paintings and her ceramics was in 1990, and since then she exhibits her works about two times a year in various galleries in the Netherlands.

The animal world has always fascinated her and often her work contains an animal element. Her Iranian art training is another influence in her work, particularly in the contours of forms and the decorative elements.

Often she works on a theme making a series of related works in response to this such as the 1997 "Unity in Diversity" piece made up of five ceramic painted animal - bowl forms.
Her 2001 series of works are another, which are humourous expressions in response to the issue of genetic engineering.

Her 1995 ceramic "Ontmoeting tussen mens en muis" (Meeting between human and mouse) was a more literal response where a mouse was realistically sculpted with a human ear on its back.
The 2001 objects are more abstracted and witty interpretations. The partly glazed -often in very intense colours- illustrate impossible combinations of a head, body and tail. The work shown above for example bears the head of a horse, the body of a dog, and a vertical tail.

In 1999 Taraneh decided to combine her social skills with her creativity and so spent three and half years studying for a diploma to be able to coordinate creative activities in institutes. She now works in a centre for the mentally ill where she is in charge of stimulating and conducting creative activities for the clients. Her goal is to keep her clients active and inspired so they feel less ill. Often this involves an aspect of making or creating. She loves her work because each day is an adventure.