Momentum Artist: Taraneh Tayaran, Norman

"Death by Yarn"
Photography

Q: What was the concept behind your Momentum artwork?
A: I like blood and guts, well only if it looks fake. I like to find humor in things that should be serious. I think this is why I have such a strange attraction to zombies. I like that the whole concept of a zombie mocks death and cuts away from death's serious tone. In my photography piece, I created three different death scenes that all used yarn as a method of committing suicide. I wanted to illustrate that people can create harm from something so harmless such as yarn. It is not the materials we use but the way that we use them. People are capable of creating harm if they want to create harm, it is all in what they decide. I call this piece "death by yarn."

Q: Explain the technique and/or process you used to create your Momentum work.
A: The piece that I created shows three different death scenes as a result of a yarn. Using my own patterns, I crocheted a gun, a knife and a bottle for pills along with red and blue pills to accompany it. I wanted each scene to look believable yet extremely fake so that people can find humor in each photo.

With the crocheted gun, I took a picture of what I would look like with a gun shot through my mouth and to the back of my head. I used a lot of red felt to show the blood splatter. I thought that red felt would work best since I wanted it to look fake. I had to take a lot of thought about how the blood would have looked in a real situation like this with angles and distance. For my next photo, I took a picture of me laying in the bathtub after slitting my wrists with a crocheted knife. I went over the top with the fake blood to show how the blood would have dripped off my wrists and off the edge of the bathtub and then pile on the floor in puddles. For my final piece, I used the crocheted bottle of pills along with the red and blue pills and took a picture of what I would look like after overdosing. In this scene I am laying face down with a lamp that I knocked down when I fell. Near my hands, I placed a cup with blue felt inside that illustrates water spilling, along with the crocheted bottle and pills to show what I was holding before I fell. I used very little light in this photo because I wanted it to be a dark scene. With the death scenes that involved blood, I used a lot of lighting because I wanted the red felt to feel jarring. Overall, I wanted this piece to be shocking yet humorous, and fortunately most people have reacted in this way.

View, Purchase and Experience Artwork by Oklahoma's Emerging Young Artists at Momentum OKC. Event: March 5-6. Gallery Hours: March 9, 10 & 11. Tickets and more information: www.MomentumOklahoma.org.