Raha Raissnia (b. 1967, Tehran) is a Brooklyn-based artist whose practice encompasses painting, drawing, filmmaking and performance. She gained exposure to avant-garde filmmaking as an intern at Anthology Film Archives. Creating layered works in various mediums, her performances have involved projecting films and slides onto her large paintings, with musical accompaniment. Raissnia has collaborated with musicians such as Charles Curtis, Briggan Krauss, Dalius Naujo, Doron Sadja and Aki Onda. Raissnia received a B.F.A. from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (1992) and an M.F.A. from Pratt Institute (2002). She has been an Adjunct Professor of Drawing at the City College of New York, and Parsons the New School of Design. Artist Statement: All three areas of my practice­­––painting, drawing, and filmmaking––are interconnected and interdependent. My films and paintings influence one another, and through creating drawings I investigate this influence. My painting practice brings and adds elements of abstraction to the vision I capture onto film and my films bring in elements of reality into my paintings. What reveals itself as a subject matter in all my work is of human vulnerability. Although at times my work seems to allude to the dismal, my philosophy is optimistic and believes in human integrity. My process is layered and permutational. It makes use of both old and new technologies and relies heavily on what my hands can achieve. Music and sound play a major role in both inspiring and forming completed works. I physically modify my projectors, mainly 16mm, super 8 and slide projectors and play them like musical instruments.