The Capitalyst: Can you share an early memory that sparked your fascination with art or design? Was there a pivotal moment that made you realize this would be your lifelong passion?
Soheil Rad: I remember myself creating crafts, playgrounds and sketching at 15 while I couldn’t focus on the studies at school yet there was a trigger pushing me to continue doing what felt right by that time and it continued so.
The Capitalyst: Much of your work blends influences from Iranian architecture with contemporary design. How did your time in Italy shape your perspective on these traditions?
Soheil Rad: Being an immigrant and feeling home sick made me realise of the love I had for Iran and subconsciously I was dragged in between of Italian minimalism and style yet struggling with a love and hate relationship with my past and country that eventually started combining Iranian Islamic architecture as a symbol of pushing through complexes of religion and toxic masculinity and the battles of freedom between east and west, masculinity and femininity.
The Capitalyst: You moved from Tehran to Florence and then Milan to pursue your studies. How did living and studying in Italy impact your creative journey and process?
Soheil Rad: I always felt in the wrong place while I was in Italy as a person who admires community and belonging and the feeling of being an stranger and somehow lost as an immigrant distracted me not being present enough to enjoy the beauties of Italy and the traditional educational style of the universities pushed me far away from my creative vision. Yet once I left the country, I realised the amazing impression and vision this country gave me as a person being immersed in that architecture everyday by walking or bicycle. It was more than just the creative path but the lifestyle I gained through those years that totally changed me and opened up my perspective.
The Capitalyst: What drew you to focus on light as a primary medium, and how does it help you tell stories or evoke emotion in your installations?
Soheil Rad: When I first moved back to Iran in 2016 after 10 years of Italy, I was so lost and confused hat needed a new beginning. One of my friends proposed me an investment on a collection supporting me on this journey. That moment I realised that I need to bring up with a collection that is expressing my past in Iran and my vision from Italy yet a light expressing myself that has been dragged away years since I started my creative journey and it needed to be expressive and strong. Light came in the scene naturally as a narrative medium telling my stories in between of past, present and future. Sometimes to be seen, sometimes sexual, sometimes spiritual and sometimes invisible.
The Capitalyst: Your “upside dome light art maze” in Tehran attracted over 5,000 visitors. What was the story behind this installation, and what did you hope people would experience?
Soheil Rad: That experience was one a kind for me as a transition in between my blockages in Iran and the fluid and harmonious future I was looking for. It was bringing the audience to the central part of the installation as of walking on the upside dome while being immersed with free forms of Islamic architecture putting them in a game of coming back to the inner self and eventually realising that the true freedom comes from within and anywhere you go the sky is blue so you would just go back to your truest core to find your truest freedom which was the play around the shapes and the central upside skylight in the installation that amazed audience to experience it and go viral.
The Capitalyst: Many of your pieces reflect the contrasts between underground freedom and conservative tradition. How do you weave these personal and social themes into your practice?
Soheil Rad: As an Iranian we have always been pushed to play safe, keep it low and pretend to be conservative avoiding any social and political issue. We have always been hiding a part of ourselves to avoid any potential problem regarding the Islamic restrictions or social mindset differences. Light and colour are crucial in my works creating shapes and reflections that somehow express this dual identity issue that Iranian people face yet being rooted in culture and heritage by keeping my original identity in the Iranian motives, architecture and inspirations projected into my works.
The Capitalyst: Islamic and Iranian architectural patterns recur in your work. Is there a particular symbol, motif, or element that resonates deeply with you, and how do you keep it fresh in your art?
Soheil Rad: It actually was very much closed in the Islamic arch since I wasn’t personally released from my religious past and was taken over by the mixed thoughts of being pushed into the traditional mindset yet trying to survive into the liberal mindset which eventually got possible through this process of art practices and design processes and finally got free to fluid forms and shapes the moment I also started to truly feel unattached and free.
The Capitalyst: Light and space are both central in your creations. What’s your approach to working with architectural environments and how do you imagine viewers moving through your installations?
Soheil Rad: As an object design and scenographer I love to create journeys that put audience coming together as a community, feeling true emotions, multisensory feelings, being amazed and feel the power of magic and connection by going through these immersive spaces surrounded by light, sound, movement, visual effects and entertainment. I love to create original spaces with my visionary architecture yet placing a central installation gathering audience to a specific purpose, message, memory and feeling.
The Capitalyst: Collaboration seems to play a prominent role in your projects, especially in more technically demanding pieces. How does working with others influence your creativity and outcomes?
Soheil Rad: I love human connection and society plays a crucial role on my life and work. I get so inspired by diversity and belonging is my highest value. As a creative person collaboration is one of the most fascinating acts because of the diversity that brings out of me by different mindsets and the evolvement of ideas which potentially leads to a great one. It also helps me to let me ego fade away and push towards growth mindset. It always brings diverse touches to my vision. I also believe in expertism and bringing talents together to create something big and unusual.
The Capitalyst: Looking ahead, are there new materials, technologies, or narratives you’re excited to explore, or a dream project you hope to realize next?
Soheil Rad: I see my process is becoming so multidisciplinary and I love combining diverse materials, technologies and mediums to create experiential spaces that are related to fashion, wellness and lifestyle. As an artist I still love to combine and explore new materials with my Iranian roots and at the moment I am working on a new solo exhibition mostly focused on objects design inspired by Iranian antique objects with new materials which will be launched in a couple of months. I am also expanding my business in diverse figures such as group experiences and workshops, an audio visual experiential tour and event set design and styling called setupXperiences as my side business. Soheilradstudio will be going wider in Tehran, Dubai and Milan focusing on experiential and object design, installation arts and workshops while setupXperiences will cover my styling and décor projects.
