My work focuses on women’s lived experiences and the quiet moments where they are their
natural selves. I depict women as they write, swim, rest, or simply sit alone. I use these gestures
as a way to see women beyond idealized and performative roles.
I grew up surrounded by my mother and sisters after losing my father at a young age. I came to
understand that strength does not need to be performed or displayed, as it exists quietly in the
routines of everyday life. The women I paint carry traces of myself and the women whose
presence and stories have stayed with me in life.
My work is deeply influenced by my Persian background. My interest is in uncovering remnants
of womanhood and femininity within the narratives of historical Persian miniature paintings. In
these paintings, women, in relation to men, were portrayed as idealized figures, rather than the
ordinary, private moments from my experiences. This tension between how women were
represented and how I experienced women in everyday life continues to shape the way I portray
women in my work.
The idea of home increasingly shapes my vision as a painter. Moving from Iran to the United
States taught me that making a new life requires accepting loss. My paintings address how we
create belonging within unfamiliar places. I often sand down nearly finished paintings,
sacrificing familiar imagery to make space for one I cannot yet see. Through thin veils of oil
paint and subtraction, I work to reveal multiple iterations, much like