Amir Bakhari Interview
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Amir Bakhari sat in a comfortable neighborhood cafe not far from his Park Slope, Brooklyn apartment. He talked over tea about the beginning of his career as an artist. "It seems as if I've been doing this forever," said Bakhari. "I grew up in Louisiana, and I've been painting and drawing ever since I was ten years old."

He laughed as he recalled a childhood in which his creative urges were encouraged and nurtured, "My father was always showing off my artwork and boasting to his friends about my talent. To him, I was Michelangelo."

From that time on, Bakhari's artistic course was set. "My dream has been to paint full-time and do nothing else." Navigating through the terrain of obligations that can undo dreams and become obstacles to artistic accomplishment, the painter never abandoned his vocation.

Bakhari moved to Illinois after high school to study at the Art Institute of Chicago and Columbia College. Recently he graduated with a master's degree from Cambridge.

During the 1980s, Amir Bakhari was employed by the Brooklyn Museum to teach in their educational program. Working closely with the museum's African art collection was a strong influence on his current paintings. Many of these now feature mask-like images whose arresting eyes stare out at the world. Masks allow the user to present an alternative face to the world, one that better lends itself to expression and metaphor; one that projects the spirituality of the user.