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Art of Medicine

I Rise

By Sima Sadeghinejad '20

Nature is a never-ending source of inspiration for Sima Sadeghinejad—its shapes, colors, patterns, and life. She loves clay's potential to be shaped into anything imaginable and often builds sculptures reflecting natural forms.

The struggle to rise against oppression is a universal struggle shared by people of all socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds.

Disheartened by the presidential election in 2016, Sadeghinejad sought solace in Maya Angelou's poem, Still I Rise, which speaks of strength and resiliency. With Angelou's words carved into the clay, Sadeghinejad's recent ceramic work echoes the need to embrace the nuances of identity and to resist forces of oppression. This collection's message is undoubtedly political—its creation therapeutic.

Also engraved into the sculptures' surfaces are the words 'I Rise' in 35 languages, gathered from people across the Dartmouth community. These etched words create surface tension while also conveying a message of unity.

"The struggle to rise against oppression is a universal struggle shared by people of all socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds," she says. "It is a human endeavor that unites all of us. Forces of oppression can take many forms—governments, domestic situations, or demons inside our own heads that give rise to self-doubt and prevent us from reaching our full potential."

Ranging in size from a diminutive 4.5 x 3 x 3 inches to 18 x 14 x 10 inches, the sculptures were created in Dartmouth's ceramic studio. Sima Sadeghinejad is a second-year medical student.


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Geisel School of Medicine at DartmouthDartmouth-Hitchcock Medical CenterWhite River Junction VAMCNorris Cotton Cancer CenterDartmouth College