Thursday Salute to Originals: Woolmen
An Iranian artist fashions thick soft fibers into masculine portraits.
Salman Khoshroo is an Iranian-based digital artist, painter, and sculptor known for his abstract portraits. His most recent series explores portraiture through a new medium: wool fiber.
Khoshroo describes the Wool on Foam portrait series as an expression of trauma and the feelings of vulnerability from the lockdown in Iran — a hard-hit region during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We live in fragile times, and I feel the need to find new materials and the mindset to reinvent my practice. Wool brings warmth and intimacy to these portraits and plays with provoking the nurturing instinct. Making male portraits with this habitually perceived feminine material is part of a personal journey in re-interpreting the masculine condition,” said Khoshroo in an interview with This is Colossal.
Noses, puckered lips, and locks of hair emerge from unspun wool rovings in the artist’s hands. Like floating brushstrokes, the plush material evokes the vulnerable emotions men around the world are experiencing right now.
This Thursday, we’re saluting Salman Khoshroo and his wool men. You can view more wool works and portraiture on the artist’s Instagram or website.
Sources: Salman Khoshroo, This is Colossal