Maysha Mohamedi

The Nose Knows

An aquiline nose (also called a Roman nose) is a human nose with a prominent bridge, giving it the appearance of being curved or slightly bent.

aquiline

[ ak-wuh-lahyn, -lin ] adjective

1. (of the nose) shaped like an eagle's beak; hooked.

2. of or like the eagle.

In ancient Rome, the eagle was known as the king of birds. It was a symbol of imperial power, and therefore represented courage, strength, and immortality.

The No’s Know

“I had grown used to hearing that I was exotic and high fashion. It means that my nose was too big for American commercials. Yes! My nose was too big.”

She is delighted when she is described as the owner of a ‘statement nose.’

“Beautifully put, a schnoz!”

She Knows Nose

“Now tell me, why were you staring at my nose?”

“Oh, I wasn’t staring!”

“Does it astonish you?”

“Why no, I’ve been careful not to look” “Well, why not, if you please? Possibly you find it just a trifle large?”

“No, it’s small! VERY small! Tiny! Infinitesimal!”

“What?! You accuse me of absurdity? Small? My nose? Why… MAGNIFICANT my nose! Know that I glory in this nose of mine. For a great nose indicates a great [woman]! Genial, courteous, courageous!”

From the Nose Flows

Look at the lovely Bebe Daniels, with her Roman nose and elevated aggression bump: everything she touches turns to money.

A Nose by Any Other Name

Would smell as sweet.

Maysha Mohamedi (b. 1980, Los Angeles) is an Iranian-American artist who lives and works in Los Angeles.

Her large and airy paintings use unconventional, found or created tools and body parts as stamps for elegant and linear mark making. Having a subtle grid structure overlapped with non-iconic floating imagery, Mohamedy creates lyrical abstract paintings with geometric elements and a balanced colour palette that reflects the fragile and regulated order of the natural world.

Mohamedi’s idiosyncratic gestural language, formally drawing upon the calligraphic line of her ancestral language, Farsi - a language rich in metaphor and poetic suggestion, serves to symbolize the lens through which Mohamedi represents the internal world of her gender, her species, and herself.

Maysha Mohamedi received her MFA from California College of the Arts, San Francisco. Recent solo exhibitions have been held at Nicelle Beauchene, New York (2020); Halsey McKay, New York (2020); The Lodge, Los Angeles (2018). Her work has recently been included in group shows at Massimo De Carlo, VSpace (2021); Loyal Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden (2020); Artual Gallery, Beirut (2019); The Lancaster Museum of Art and History, Lancaster (2019); The Pit, Los Angeles (2019; 2017).