Maliheh Zafarnezhad is an Irish-Iranian artist whose practice spans across drawing, painting, printmaking, installation and video-art. She holds an MA in History of Art and Architecture, and her recent research includes Persian, Islamic and Renaissance arts.

I was born in a traditional Iranian family in a small city called Sabzevar. In Iran in 1981.  My father was a teacher in that time but he was also a musician and composer. He taught me how to play Santur which is an Iranian traditional instrument. I think the music was the first and main reason that introduced me to the art world. When I was studying Geology in University, I had visited an art exhibition by a traditional painter that really encouraged me to start painting. So I started to learn how to draw and paint from scratch and being a geology student also helped me to become a nature painter after I finished my B.Sc.

I painted nature for more than five years enjoying my practice in the wild countryside of Iran. I had a teacher at that time who encouraged me to see bright colours in nature and use them in my painting. I used to sit for hours and observe and paint live from nature. 

After my migration to Ireland and being away from home, surrounded by new people and new environment, made me think more about Iranian Art and what we had in the past. It’s very interesting as I was not into Islamic art when I was living in Iran. So I started to take pictures of people, painting from the pictures and then adding some Iranian motifs and also words in Farsi to it.
It was after this that I decided to take an MA in History of Art in Unversity of Limerick and write a thesis about Iranian art. I was always interested in painting women as I think women are very complicated creatures with so many different personalities, behaviours, emotions and pains. That’s why I also decided to do a gender analysis in my MA thesis and it was on the mural paintings of a Safavid palace in Isfahan. I researched different social classes of women who were living in Isfahan during the Safavid Dynasty and investigated if the women on the wall paintings were inspired from real women or not.

Tell us about your greatest inspirations or influences please.

As an Iranian born artist now living in the diaspora, inspiration in my artworks usually emerges out of a multi-national identity, mixed culture, immigration experiences and childhood memories from Iran. I have spent most of my life in my native country forced to navigate a web of restrictions as a woman. Hence, most of my artworks are dominated by portraits of women filled by thought-provoking messages about love, feelings, loyalty, obligation and social issues. Becoming a mother in my last years of stay in Ireland and then my second immigration that happened from Ireland to UK in 2016 also had a huge influence in my art practice. 

We’d love to hear more about your creative process.

In my art practice, I use old personal family photographs, archival photographs of Iranian illustrations and fragments from magazines, to create multi-layered collages that can be seen as provoking human emotions and looking at the paradoxes of identity and experience living as both an Iranian woman and an Iranian/Irish woman. I explore the sense of loss, displacement and urgency surrounding identity in those having left one place and are now living in another cultural framework and the role of memory, nostalgia and ideas of belonging. I creates both 2D and 3D works using image transfer techniques to create a diversity of textures and experiences of my collages.

What do you think of the art world and how it works in general?

The art world in my opinion is a complex and multifaceted industry that involves a wide range of participants, including artists, collectors, dealers, galleries, auction houses, museums, curators, critics, and art enthusiasts. The art world has many different players and aspects. It is a constantly evolving market, with new artists, galleries, and collectors entering the scene regularly. The art world is constantly evolving, with new artists, movements, and trends emerging all the time. The market for art is also subject to fluctuations, as the value of art can be affected by various factors, such as supply and demand, economic conditions, and changing tastes and preferences.

Anything coming up that we should know about?

I am a resident of V.O Curations studios in Tower Hill at the moment and I am going to have a solo show soon in their project space. It will probably happen around May-June 2023. 

Website: https://www.malihehzafarnezhad.com/

Instagram: @maliheh_zafarnezhad