By experimenting with various mediums, this Toronto-based artist is raising awareness for Ukraine
By: Teresa Valenton
Amiri finishes up the final details on his latest mural MAKE LOVE NOT WAR by adding the remaining petals beside a young girl. (Dylan Kavalsky/VOCAB Communications)
In embracing a creative rebellion against tradition, mixed-media artist Mahyar Amiri explores the boundaries of street art. As one of the only silkscreen artists — a form of art that utilizes negative spaces through stencils — in Ontario, Amiri challenges new mediums to evolve as an artist, which is evident in his most recent mural, MAKE LOVE NOT WAR.
Amidst the war between Russia and Ukraine, Amiri draws attention to the innocence of children during these times. Images of the mural have been shared by notable Ukrainian celebrities including Alan Badoev and Irina Soponaru. Located on the wall of Civello Salon and Spa at 269 Queen St. West, Amiri creates a space for reflection.
Inspired by artists such as Warhol and Banksy, Amiri pushes himself to focus on his personal values through public displays of art. Emphasizing inner strength as an artist, Amiri draws inspiration from their willingness to create thought-evoking pieces.
Creating a variety of pieces around Toronto, Amiri calls out political issues through various mediums. In a 2021 mural titled REVOLUTION, he features two young boys as his subjects to represent the tensions between Afghanistan and its citizens.
Amiri also created for Blunt and Cherry, highlighting the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to controversies surrounding vaccine and mask mandates among global citizens. Replacing a flag with a mask, Amiri highlights how international governments have provided aid to the virus.
In an interview with CanCulture, Amiri speaks on the artistic subject matter of his latest mural, taking on the city and establishing himself as a street artist.
Do you have specific locations in mind when creating murals?
Two fundamentals come into mind when painting a mural. One is the location and what it means to me; so that’s one thing, which is the sentimental aspect of the mural location. The second part is obviously the exposure it gets. I wouldn’t want to paint on the side of a dumpster or something that no one sees. It’s great for any artist to paint on a wall that gets a lot of exploration and establishes your name in the city.
In relation to your piece about the war between Russia and Ukraine titled MAKE LOVE NOT WAR, why did you select the wall of Civello Salon and Spa?
At first, they didn’t want to give me that wall because they originally had it black and a lot of artists had tried to occupy it. Long story short, I just went up to them and I said I’m going to do it for free and if you don’t like this mural, I’m going to paint it black the next day and come back down with no problem. They liked me as a person and not just an artist, I was very thankful for that.
Can you walk me through the creative process of this mural?
So that mural was painted with monochromatic colours such as dark grey and white to paint to subjects. I used yellow and blue for the flag and the flowers the girl was picking up from the floor and brown for the cardboard. I did not want to go too busy, but I just wanted to paint kids as a subject as something simple and, yet, meaningful as well.
How did you select the subject matter in depicting the war between Russia and Ukraine?
Personally, I still don’t know what my official subjects for my murals are, but lately, they have been children because I do like the innocence they carry within society. So whenever there is a war or disagreements between a party’s adults, I always like to highlight and raise awareness of these events, such as what’s going on in Afghanistan and the war in Ukraine with these children. In my eyes, they have no intentions of causing trouble or bloodshed and I wanted to use them to convey this message — to create love not war with the Ukraine mural; just simple subjects with nothing too out of the ordinary.
Is there a reason behind the juxtaposition of the monochromatic aspect and the children in the piece?
The yellow is very evident with the flowers to kind of represent the light and happiness the city brings. But as you can see, there are not many yellow flowers left in the mural. Most of them are gray, like on the sides of that girl. So she’s kind of picking up the remaining pieces of her country to gather and hold them in her hands. It represents all the happiness and joy that were wiped off the environment. The yellow is to showcase and display the beauty that Ukraine once had before this war began.
In what ways do you want viewers to view your art?
My business is called Not Art, so I don’t really know. They can view it however they want, it’s open to perspective at the end of the day. I’m just painting because I have fun with it. I’m not painting to shove opinions down people’s throats. As long as it makes people feel something, I think I’m doing my job right. If I’m making the change, I think I’m doing my job right. I just hope that at the end of the day I have fun and people like my work.
Do you feel moved as an artist creating a mural with this subject matter as well?
Yes, I do feel moved. It’s one thing about selling an art piece for some amount of money and there’s one about making a mural for free. So I definitely do enjoy all the comments and messages that I get from it. It was my goal for people to love it and I hope it directs people towards making love and not a war for the future.
Through Amiri’s visual interpretations of international issues, the streets of Toronto have become a canvas of opportunities. You can find more of Amiri’s artwork here.