Expressing Unity and Peace Through 2,000 Paintings: An Interview with Ehsan Khanaman
Nothing sends a stronger message of peace and love than a stunning display of 2,000 double-sided paintings, strategically assembled into a 175-foot-tall monolith. That is the grand plan of Ehsan, artist and owner of Vision of Unity and Peace gallery in Laguna Niguel, California. As I admired the vibrant collection of peace-inspired paintings in his gallery, I knew I needed to interview him.
Ehsan has spent the last 20 years masterplanning this incredible project. I was excited to take a private tour of his gallery and chat with him about all the details behind this massive undertaking.
Q:
What made you embark on this journey of creating art for peace and when did you know this was your purpose?
A:
This journey goes way back to probably when I was 5 years old. I was born and raised in Sweden, to Iranian parents. So when I was little, my parents would take me to visit my grandfather in Iran. I remember one night we woke up from the sound of sirens and went up to the rooftop, and we saw Iraqi planes bombing the city. It was a traumatic experience for me. That experience is what started me on a whole journey of asking questions: What was that? Why? I’ve been asking those questions ever since.
If we look at the course of human history, there have always been wars. There are wars going on right now in the Middle East. They are even talking about World War III. That has always been the source of my deep question why, and that question has led me to many depressing answers over the years. So I finally said to myself, forget about why, is there a how? Is there a way for humanity to evolve and advance on this topic, to experience peace all around the globe. We have evolved so much in amazing ways in many other areas, just look at this phone we are holding. But on the topic of war and conflicts, all we have advanced is getting better equipment and bigger bombs. It seems we haven’t moved toward global peace, at least lasting peace, which is where we are supposed to be.
So I kept asking how we can evolve on this topic, and the simple answer that came to me is Oneness. That we are all one big global family. We are all connected, no matter what our gender, nationality, race, religion, or status. Either way we are all connected. We all came to this earth with a heartbeat. And when you truly and authentically recognize that, you just don’t stick a knife to your brothers and sisters, you just don’t do that.
Oneness is what lies in the heart. On the mind side, intellectually, there is also no need to overanalyze a solution. To me, it is still a simple concept. What if our planet was invaded by aliens, would Palestinians and Israelis still be killing each other? Would Ukrainians and Russians still be killing each other? Or would everyone come together to defend our planet? The answer is obvious and common sense. Unity is the key to our collective preservation.
Q:
Your style of painting is very specific and mature. I love the combination of vibrant colors, textures and spiritual messages. When did you arrive at this unique style?
A:
Great question. I had a teacher in Sweden who is an amazing master artist. He would paint portraits with his eyes closed just by feeling into it, he was just fascinating. He has a thorough understanding of all mediums, techniques, compositions, etc. At the time, I wanted to learn Persian Miniature — a traditional Persian painting style from the 13th century with Chinese influence.
My teacher said: “I’m happy to teach you and it will probably take you a couple years to master it, but this style is 800 years old and even when you master it you will still be 800 years behind. A real artist creates something that’s never been created before.” That planted a seed in my heart and mind that it stuck with me.
I realized that in order to be the artist I want to be, I needed to follow my bliss and focus on creating a specific style that I enjoy. I knew I loved spirituality and I loved abstraction. So I started painting abstract faces and that's how everything evolved. My current style is contemporary and if you look at it, you can see that it has some influence from pop art, cubism, and impressionism because of the texture.
Q:
Can you share some of your personal experiences that shaped the spiritual messages you want to deliver through your art?
A:
Well my personal experience of human conflicts started from Iran and escalated since in Sweden, where I grew up, in forms of racism and discrimination. It was really difficult and uncomfortable living there feeling like I was a foreigner and did not belong. That’s why I’ve always had so much compassion for black African people because I was the black sheep there. Things are different there now but back then we were the first wave of immigrants in Sweden. Living among all blonde and blue-eyed people, we definitely stood out being brown. I remember riding the metro and people would just say horrible things to us without any filter. I didn’t understand why, because I thought in the end we are all the same.
It was really my path of spirituality that led me to the concept of oneness and gave me a better perspective of what was going on in the world. When I walked the path of spirituality I became interested in all religions of the world, even though I grew up with Muslim. I was interested in Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, and would go on 10-day silent meditation retreats. That is what gave me clarity that we are all spiritual beings and not just our physical bodies.
I became very attracted to Sufism at around 14 years old. Sufism is influenced by Buddhism, Daoism and Hinduism, but the principle of it came from the heart of Islam, which means “surrender”. That’s what Islam really means. So I went to an event at a Sufi school and someone asked me: “Do you believe in God?” I answered yes, and he asked me: “But do you have any proof that God exists?” And I didn’t. He prompted me to go talk to God and prove that he exists. I took that to heart and took it very seriously. I remember it was the middle of the winter and it was snowing in Sweden. I went home that night and prayed very sincerely: “God, I have learned all this information and inherited the idea that you exist because everybody told me you exist, but I really don’t know if you do because I don’t really have a personal experience. If you really do exist, could you please send me a sign that you’re there. And since I don’t speak your language, the only way for me to understand you is for you to speak my language.” And I asked for something ridiculous: “You know I lost my house keys for the last 2 months and I couldn’t find them anywhere. If you could find them for me then I know you exist.” After I said those words to God, I cried, because they came from my heart, and then I slept.
In the morning I got up, got dressed and went to school, and didn’t even remember that event. I walked to school, there was snow everywhere, and around lunchtime my classmate Erik said to me, hey I want to go walk my dog, do you want to come with me? We had 45 minutes so I said sure. So we started walking toward his home through a big forest. And we were walking through the forest and chit-chatting, when I suddenly noticed I had stepped on something under my shoe. I stopped and bent down to look and there was my key chain, right there in the snow! I’m getting goosebumps right now talking about this…but that was evidence for me that there is a higher being and someone is listening to me. Since then, the repeated question I’ve been asking is: “What would you like me to do?” That is when my true journey of spirituality started. I think real spirituality is not just something we read or hear about, those are all good elementary stuff, but when you experience the divine for yourself then no one can influence or take that from you.
Ehsan Khanaman Unity and Peace Gallery video
Q:
When did you begin the Vision of Unity and Peace project and what exactly does it consist of?
A:
As a child, I was always good at art. I would only get A+ in art classes. I recognized that it was the only thing I was really good at. So I loved creating art and I had studied with some really good teachers. Our family moved to the U.S. in 1998, when I was 18 years old. And in 2001, 9/11 hit. I said to myself, I gotta do something about it. I sat down at my desk, did my first sketch of what I wanted to paint — a message of oneness and unity. I knew there were going to be 2,000 paintings one day forming a peace sign. That was all I knew. Nothing else was clear to me.
You see this painting of an abstract face? It is 42” x 42” when fully framed, and is one of the 2,000 original double-sided paintings (so technically, 4,000 paintings) strategically placed into an upright 17-story-tall monolith. The front of the monolith shows a giant dove holding an olive branch flying over a peace symbol which is made of all of the national flags in the world. The backside of the monolith shows our solar system, with a heart over earth and an infinity sign in the center of the heart. Each of the 2,000 paintings play an important part within this giant display. We have had many conversations with different cities about where this can live. Some of the sites include the city of Irvine and Dubai. We will continue our conversations and with other cities to work through some of the government restrictions. We trust that when the time is right, things will naturally unfold.
Here is the breakdown of the 2,000 paintings in Vision of Unity and Peace:
1 Painting of the eye
3 Paintings of hearts
14 Paintings of missions
40 Paintings of the olive branch held by the dove
272 Paintings of national or territorial flags
1,670 Paintings of visions
Q:
How can people be a part of the Vision of Unity and Peace project?
A:
There are many ways you can be a part of this amazing project. Many people who have visited my gallery want to own an original painting from one of my collections. Both prints and originals are available from the Point of View collection and the Painting for Charity collection, from which we give a portion of our sales to selected charities.
You can purchase prints of the Heart Collection from Vision of Unity and Peace. Originals are not yet released for purchase. You can also purchase a print of the entire front view of the 2,000 paintings from Visions of Unity and Peace. All of my art comes with the Certificate of Authenticity (COA) for collectors. I also offer commissioned artwork customized for your space and vision.
We have released a series of one-of-a-kind, high-resolution NFTs, including the Vision of Unity and Peace collection. So if you are a savvy crypto investor and would rather own a digital property of my work then come take a look at what we offer on OpenSea.
We also have a variety of merch such as tees and hoodies you can purchase to show your support of our vision.
If you have questions or want to get involved in different ways, or want a virtual tour of my gallery, you can book a Zoom meeting with me. I would love to meet you in person.
Ehsan is quickly becoming one of the most important and influential artists in the world.
Ehsan’s work embodies an unrivaled passion to bring peace for all to the light. It's a stark, purposeful contradiction to the moments of darkness he witnessed in his youth.
Born in Sweden, his family moved to Iran when he was just 10. He saw the devastation of the Gulf War. He witnessed how his father offered food to refugees and other victims of this senseless violence. His father’s example imprinted Ehsan with kindness and a hope for peace. Ehsan’s family also had to deal with local racism. They were called gypsies and looked down upon.
As a young man, it became apparent that his life’s work must bring peace through unity. Naturally gifted with a humane spirit and an extraordinary artistic ability, Ehsan began nurturing his gifts. He began to paint and once his family immigrated to the United States, he began studying under a master artist in California.
Then it happened again – more devastation, this time in his new American homeland. 9/11 made Ehsan realize something needed to be done and he was the person to lead this movement. Ehsan discovered the healing power of art through vibrant textures and mesmerizing bold colors. He created new artworks constantly. The passion became an obsession. Then in 2003, he gave it a name – The Vision of Unity and Peace.
Ehsan’s Vision of Unity and Peace is a remarkable dream that is becoming a reality. It is an installation of 2,000 double-sided paintings that when placed together covers over half an acre. Ehsan envisions that it will be housed within a 17-story monolith, atop the Vision of Unity and Peace Center – a home for the world to meet, reflect and help one another – the physical, spiritual and symbolic antithesis of the places and experiences he had as a child.
Those who meet and collect the artworks of Ehsan feel his compassion. It has been said that Ehsan’s magnetic smile and infectious gratitude is a window into his soul, one that will continue to inspire him to help the world feel more love. So, he paints every day and he promotes his vision for global unity and peace to all he encounters. He embraces all art forms and creates both physical and digital NFT artworks so that all who love art can experience and participate in his vision for unity and peace in the form they choose.
You can connect with Ehsan via Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. You can see more of Ehsan’s collection on his website.
