I paint as an act of resistance, carrying the stories of my people in Iran and holding space for freedom through image and memory.
You decide who will appear in Artforum Magazine, take home $25,000, and display their work at The Art of Elysium's Salon!
Painting, especially oil painting, is the center of my practice and the love of my life. I am drawn to its depth, slowness, and physical presence. Alongside painting, I enjoy drawing and exploring ways to extend my work into space by combining painting with sculptural elements.
Where do you find inspiration?I find inspiration in my culture and in my memories of Iran, and in the quiet, profound strength and resilience of Iranian women whose lives carry history, care, and survival. Their presence shapes my work, where I translate lived experience into image. Through painting, I hold space for resilience and reflect a shared condition of oppression and the ongoing struggle for freedom.
What would you do with $25,000?I would use it to create a body of figurative paintings that gives voice to what has been lived and endured in Iran, especially 47 years of women resisting oppression and risking everything for freedom. This work would honor their courage and carry their stories across borders through exhibitions, transforming painting into a space of witnessing, memory, and resistance that insists on being seen and cannot be silenced.
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