Tofu Ink Arts Press

<p>Tofu Ink Arts Press is a celebratory venture that aims at</p><p>publishing poems and other arts of un humdrum'd inclusive</p><p>rhizomatic errant possibilities. We support work of</p><p>established and emerging poets and artists. We are looking</p><p>for polished art and poetics that are absorbed in possibilities.</p><p>We are committed to amplifying voices of the under - repre-</p><p>sented and marginalized. T ofu Ink Arts Press is a member of</p><p>CLMP Poets & Writers Association of Writers & Writing</p><p>Programs and The Academy of American Poets. Art makes</p><p>you think about thinking... ABSORB POSSIBILITIES!</p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>Jay Aelick </strong>The gray catbird's second-biggest fan. X of Wands incarnate. Mouth of Truth survivor. 1/2 of the Saint Balasar University English Club podcast.</p><p></p><p><strong>Abol Bahadori </strong>My mom told me that I started scribbling before I started talking. I believe that is why painting is my primary method of expression. I was born in Tabriz the capital city of Iranian Azerbaijan. Tabriz is the city of carpets and miniatures. As a child I was inspired by colorful abstract motifs on rugs. I started painting at a very early age and won the Best Young Artist prize at age nine among the local schools. I moved to France and England during my youth. I earned a bachelor's degree in Fine Arts and Textile Design and a master's degree in Digital Application Design from the University of Manchester UK before settling in the DC area where I took training from the founders and followers of Washington Color School starting in the '90s. I have worked in various creative fields throughout my career. As a fabric designer graphic designer art director and currently a full-time artist at the Torpedo Factory Art Center (Studio 5) I have relied solely on the fine arts and my continuous painting process as a solid foundation for creative development. Painting is my livelihood as well as a foundation for my professional life. I consider myself more of a colorist. For me color is everything. Color comes before shape and form. It creates space dimension and-most importantly-feelings. We humans view the world through a limited spectrum. But what if we had compound eyes like insects sonar like dolphins or even used scent to perceive our surroundings? I'm drawn to the space between the known and the unknown. Art is a doorway to the subconscious and color opens the path. My artistic process is a journey through the colors that occur to my eyes as composers would hear the notes in their ears. The process is spontaneous. It happens outside of the realm of self and intellect. Forms come in to represent the colors. More than an artist I consider myself a medium to provide the observer (including myself) access to the unknown or the forgotten. My art is successful only when viewers see their story in it and connect to the self and the universe through it. Listening to what others see in my paintings I am continually surprised by our shared collective memory.</p>