[050] MTSU graduate weaves immigrant experience into art on ‘MTSU On the Record’

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — An MTSU graduate whose artwork weaves the fabric of life together will be the guest on the next “MTSU On the Record” radio program.

Host Gina Logue’s interview with Beizar Aradini, a 2017 MTSU alumna and artist, will air from 9:30 to 10 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 21, and from 6 to 6:30 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 26, on WMOT-FM Roots Radio 89.5 and www.wmot.org.

Aradini, who came to the United States from a Kurdish refugee camp in Turkey when she was 2 years old, blends all kinds of fibers, including human hair, into artistic images suitable for hanging.

The laborious work with an embroidery needle and hoop results in depictions of her Kurdish relatives and expressions of her dual identity as an immigrant and an American. These include “The Kurdish Gothic,” a work of thread and canvas inspired by Grant Wood’s “American Gothic” and her own grandparents.

“Their posture, their facial expressions kind of gave off that hard work, the farmer labor,” Aradini said. “That’s very much who my grandparents were … So I played off that and their relationship as these people trying to make it within their own homeland.”

To hear previous “MTSU On the Record” programs, go to http://bit.ly/mtsu-otr.

For more information about the radio program, contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.