Incorporating everyday objects is a staple of Iqrar Rizvi’s work.
“People might be shocked by my work. Or maybe they’ll find it funny,” says the second-year Concordia master of fine arts student. “Either way it’s a kind of release.”
The Turki Alsakhip and Ashwag Alabdumonem Graduate Entrance Scholarship helped support Rizvi over the 2014-15 academic year — enabling him to hone his craft.
Enrolled in the university’s Intermedia program, Rizvi’s portfolio includes “wearable artwork.” Examples of his creations include computer speakers that are held in a person’s mouth, or modified umbrella parts used as sound conductors.
“I alter objects, attach them to my body and perform with them,” says Rizvi — referring to the process as “hacking” everyday items. Rizvi probes this connection to satisfy the research and thesis components of his program.
“My first semester at Concordia was a financial struggle,” says Rizvi, who is Pakistani born and Toronto raised. “With that entrance scholarship, I didn’t have to worry about paying my tuition.”
As Rizvi says, there are costs that are easy to overlook: “Artists have to buy lots of different supplies. A lot of my work includes electrical and mechanical components.”
Rizvi offsets some of his expenses as a teaching assistant at Concordia, for professors like François Morelli, graduate program director for Studio Arts, and Cynthia Hammond, chair of the Department of Art History. He also earns revenue with a part-time job outside of the university.
Thanks to support Rizvi can focus on producing artwork. His efforts have been featured at such venues as the Gnarl Fest at the Lincoln Performing Arts Centre at the University of Lincoln in the United Kingdom in 2014.
Rizvi’s artistic explorations also enjoy attention closer to home.
“There are gallery spaces at Concordia, and we’re also encouraged to find opportunities outside of the university,” says Rizvi. Among locations where his works were showcased is the Eastern Bloc art gallery in Montreal, where he had a duo exhibition in 2015.
