Yasaman Moussavi
Vancouver, Canada
Artist Statement
In this series of works, I explore the transformation of meaning through handmade paper inspired by Jorge Luis Borges' The Library of Babel. Working with recycled copies of the text in original Spanish, and English/Farsi translations as my raw material, I engage in the meditative process of papermaking—breaking down, pulping, and reconstituting these texts into the medium of possibility, where language hovers between the presence and absence and reborn as tactile visual material. The handmade paper embodies the paradoxes that haunt Borges' work—the tension between what we can grasp and what forever eludes us, between the finite and infinite, between silence and speech. As text dissolves into fiber, it creates a meditation on the nature of meaning itself, and our endless desire to find patterns in the infinite. In a world marked by displacement, conflict, and the fragility of human life, this process reflects the precariousness of existence, where stability is fleeting and transformation is both destructive and regenerative. The delicate, yet resilient, nature of the paper becomes a metaphor for the human condition: fragile, yet enduring; fractured, yet capable of holding new meaning.
Sample Works
Artist Bio
Yasaman (Yasi) Moussavi is an interdisciplinary artist and educator whose research-based practice explores the intersection of displacement, precarity, and social status. As a Ph.D. candidate at the University of British Columbia, she examines the complex narratives of migration and impermanence in contemporary society. Moussavi holds an MFA from Texas Tech University, where she developed her expertise in papermaking and installation art—practices that now form the foundation of her current work.
Through her artistic practice, she creates embodied experiences that invite viewers to contemplate the uncertainties of precarity. Her process deliberately employs ephemeral and recycled materials as metaphors for the transient experiences of displaced communities. By weaving together poetry and multilingual text with visual elements, her work explores the nuanced stories of displacement and the transitional phases of changing social status. Her work has been displayed and published in many national and international solo and group exhibitions.