My work, while essentially rooted in my Persian heritage, has become an aesthetic synthesis further     inspired by several masters of the 20th century. My earlier interest in Japanese art of Ikebana (the art of     Japanese flower arrangement), and Bonsai (the art of training and pruning miniature evergreens) opened my     eyes to a very serene spectrum of the art of Japanese gardening, when I lived there in Japan. Their design     principles and architecture led me to become fascinated with modern classic design and architecture, especially     the works of Frank Lloyd Wright in the early stages of my career as an artist.

As I further pursued my interest in art, the color relativity of Joseph Albers, the intellectual calculation of geometric abstractions and how to work with color values to give the illusion of movement and the changing of hues and sizes of spatial relationships to convey depth and a luminous quality proved to play a significant role in my artistic development.

The color gradations of Victor Vasarely contributed largely to my better understanding of color. As I continued to evolve, I learned the simplicities of expression from the color fields of Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman as I understood the conceptual aspects of expression in the works and stains of Helen Frankenthaler. I later became very intrigued by the textural qualities of Gerhard Richter and the fluent beauties of Georgia O’Keeffe.

As I transcended from representational art to abstract expressionism and abstract paintings, the pouring, spattering and gestural painting of Jackson Pollock taught me the magic of spontaneity, but I found the fluidity of Sam Francis more inspiring. The printing and the absence of control in Robert Rauschenberg’s work taught me how to leave plenty to chance for the sake of discovery, as the philosophy and teachings of Hans Hofmann, created a new awareness in me to better appreciate Nature as the greatest and most inspiring Art and Artist.

And later, my good friend and a true teacher, Homer Mitchell, also a Yale gentleman, who had worked closely with Albers, reintroduced me to Johannes Itten. He subtly and inspirationally led me to tap into the variety of skills and abilities I had acquired over the years.

Restudying Itten’s dynamic principles of teachings at the Bauhaus was a new awakening for me and tremendously enlightening. I became justly appreciative of the virtues of Itten’s teaching philosophy of acquiring skills and refinement in a variety of other fields to master the ability to create from memory and inspiration with certainty. Thus, it was through Homer’s gentle inspirational guidance that I truly grasped and ascertained a better critical aesthetic sensibility by weaving a durable cloth of creativity from the threads of skills and know-how I had passionately acquired in my journey to unfold and evolve as an artist. And for that, I thank him Dearly!

                                                                                            – Iran Lawrence