Master of Fine Arts Thesis Defense by Ali Masoumzadeh College of Visual and Performing Arts
ADVISOR: Anthony Fisher
SUBJECT: MASTER OF FINE ARTS THESIS DEFENSE BY: Ali Masoumzadeh
TOPIC: Contemporary anatomy of a Persian family
DATE: May 14th, 2026
TIME: 9:30am
LOCATION: Hatch Street studios, New Bedford, MA
ABSTRACT:
This thesis investigates change, transformation, and the ability to freely express. The work emerges from a desire to create visual and material systems that are not fixed but open, where the act of looking becomes an act of choice rather than passive reception. The painting and the drawing installation, and the graphic novel invite a viewer to navigate, flip, rotate, and reorient pages or objects, activating a shifting image that resists singular interpretation. This freedom allows forms to mutate, and to embrace the instability inherent in the creative process. The work is shaped by personal and collective experiences of restriction and the damage of being under authoritarian systems. Through interaction in a nonlinear fashion, the work offers an experience of the simple act of choosing what to see. And how to see it might be the solution too.
Hatch Street Studios : 88 Hatch St, New Bedford, MA 02745