Masterpieces by Nick Ghafari

An artist – painter, writer, musician as well – Nick Ghafari was born in Kabul, Afghanistan and migrated to the United States after the Soviet invasion of 1979.

Nick Ghafari is a founder of a Facebook group called ART ELEMENTS and ART ELEMENTS LA.

Nick was influenced by German Expressionism early on in his career; paired with his experiences of war and migration, they have shaped his philosophy on life and expression as an artist. Nick currently resides in Los Angeles, California where he continues to evolve and refine his style of artistic expression.

I know art of Nick for about 17 years… His paintings can be framed into some periods, some kind of cycles. Sometimes – mostly – his paintings have figurative motives. And sometimes Nick prefers abstract topics.

Nick Ghafari. Fall. 

Nick likes to paint with acrylic using various surfaces including canvas, wood, and burlap. He also likes the use of mixed media and have experimented with pastel, ink, oil, and silicon.

Nick Ghafari. Stories

Nick is telling: Art is an escape for me; escape from the cruelty of existence without a purpose. It is an idea for meditation, or perhaps an unpretentious path to self realization. I try to understand myself and my world through creating; and so I paint. My paintings are about human journey through life, and our coexistence with nature, and the world around us.

Nick Ghafari. Organic

As much as I like to experiment with colors, I also try to create texture and depth by painting layers over layers to the point of exhaustion. I seldom use a model for my works, and paint subjects that are trapped in my memory, thoughts or dreams.

Recently Nick uses figurative motives, in these paintings it is possible to see existencial drama, drama and tragedy of humans life... But what are main differences between recent Nick‘s paintings and older (painted fifteen years ago) paintings? Maybe in his latest artworks there are more darker – black – lines which are emphasizing tragic fate of human life.

And very interesting and symbolic motives are also appearing – cats, birds and goats between human figures. Actually recent Nick‘s paintings are more raw than earlier what helps express dramatism of human life.