Komeil is 36 and exiled from Iran because of the very gift he has built his whole life around – his creativity and expressive art.
His passion for art bloomed at a very young age, and is a gift he says he inherited from his father, who was also a painter.
Even after the Iranian Revolution of 1978-1979, the country is still waging a crackdown on musicians, painters and academics, he says. Komeil was born four years after the Revolution.
“So many forms of art, were not only banned without a question. They were (regarded as) crimes,” Komeil told FMT.
Komeil cannot return to his homeland under any circumstances. In fact, he was not even allowed to see his father, who passed away a year ago in Iran after falling ill.
“I wasn’t allowed to go back, even when my father was sick, even when he passed away. I wasn’t given a chance to see him.”
Besides this snippet of sad news, he is reluctant to talk about his struggles in Iran, preferring instead to turn to art to illustrate the heart wrenching difficulties he has had to endure like so many others like him.
“Art has always been my refuge. I even let my art speak for me, it is my form of communication.
“Censorship in Iran and the freedom of expression is very controlled. I think the art that I make has its own fine language that addresses these sensitive issues,” he says.
The Malaysian community has been welcoming to him, he says, allowing him to express his art in a way unheard of back in his own country.
To Komeil, art is more than just an expression – it is his own version of reality. He explains that when one looks upon a painted canvas, the meaning one takes from it is a reflection of who they are, a mirror of themselves.
“I only paint the canvas. When I see it, it’s my own reflection of reality, it defines who I am, what I respond to. When other people see the canvas, it is their own reality.”
He said painting itself is a creative process, and very much like a form of meditation. “It is like creating a life where you also learn in the process.”
Komeil believes that art holds a person’s individual emotions, ones they cannot fully express in words.
“We live in a time when our emotions sometimes feel like they are in exile. We don’t know what to relate to,” he explains, adding that it is up to the individual how he or she interprets a particular piece.
“Never ever ask a mother who her favourite child is,” he jokes, explaining that he loves each and every one of his artworks equally and therefore cannot pick a favourite.
Komeil says he wants to show the world that regardless of whether one is in exile or a refugee, one’s status in life does not define who they are in reality.
He says what defines an individual is what they do, and what they make with their own two hands. “For me, my art defines who I am.”
Komeil’s solo art exhibition was held at Improv Bistro in Wisma Lim Foo Yong from March 1-8.