I’ve found a home in Melbourne after arriving here in February 2012, following 17 months in Turkey while my shelter visa status was being processed after leaving Iran.

It brings me great joy to see my ideas take form and to see others respond to my art. This is probably my greatest achievement in the last 12 months and I'm looking forward to more of this in the new year.

I finish my degree and I want to continue to make films and take more photography projects, produce music and make more art that speak to my heritage and express who I am within this culture. I would like to see my work reach a broader audience and to stimulate a dialogue within the local community and beyond. I want to continue to explore the works of artists who inspire me: Abbas Kiarostami, Forugh Farrokzhad, Arthur Russell, Shirin Neshat, Shajarian, Sima Bina, Hossein Alizadeh and many more. I'm excited to discover other beautiful and precious art.

I would also like to continue my photography work, which has largely been involved in recording gay and queer events. This includes continuing to work with Nik Dimopoulos on videos for Trough X, with whom I’ve been working for the past few years.

It's also a goal of mine to have my two exhibitions every year. This is a goal that I could never achieve in Iran due to the censorship of my work, which was not to the liking of the government. It will be an expression and celebration of all the things that are a part of my art and my thinking, among them: poetry, dance, music, feminism, film, men.