Headlands Center for the Arts

By appointment.

Bay Area Fellow Omid Mokri is working in the Project Space studio for the month of March, and welcomes guests to visit and view in-progress and finished works. During this time he will be recreating the painting process that he invented during his time in San Quentin: applying crushed crayon and color pencil to a canvas made of bedsheets cured with tea and milk. 

Mokri is an Iranian American artist classically trained in Iran in miniatures. His practice began with classical Persian- and European-style paintings in the tradition of the vanitas, and includes contemporary painting and drawing and intricate books inlaid with natural materials. For Mokri, making art became a vehicle for survival while in prison in the United States. While incarcerated, he used his work to tell the stories of inmates fighting to persevere against a system denying them their humanity, sketching portraits on commonplace, symbolic items such as non-sufficient fund envelopes; he now uses his work as a platform for social commentary and advocacy.

Studio visits are by appointment only; to make an appointment, please contact Program Coordinator Christina Young at cyoung@headlands.org at least 72 hours in advance of your intended visit.

Headlands Center for the Arts’ Bay Area Fellowship: Svane Family Foundation Artists, is made possible with the generous support of the Svane Family Foundation.

Headlands assess Covid safety protocol on an ongoing basis and may require mask wearing indoors regardless of vaccination status. Masks will be available on site. Project Space is on the third floor of Building 944, and is currently accessible only by stairs. For accessibility questions or requests please contact cyoung@headlands.org.