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Artist Statement:
Coming from a culture the legacy of which is the most sublime poetic creations (including Hafiz and Rumi), my first and most significant inspiration is mystic and spiritual poetry. This poetic heritage bridges the gap between the real and the ethereal and feeds very well into my imagination. What I love most is to put these poems into color through abstraction and semi-abstraction. While Persian calligraphy used to be a dominant part of my expressive paintings due to having practiced it since the very childhood, after immigrating to Canada and as a result of living in a multi-cultural city like Toronto, I have been inclined to a minimalist use of calligraphy. Being exposed to globally acclaimed modern and postmodern art works, I now use calligraphy as some signs and symbols, which can talk to an international audience.
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Biography:
Mahdieh Vali-Zadeh was born in Tehran/Iran and raised in Amol. Having grown up both next to the sea and in close proximity to a very sublime mountain range, her love of nature meditation grew tremendously. As another major influence, Persian mystic poetry captivated her since childhood when she started practicing calligraphy at the age of 10 intertwined with poetry. She also started learning painting at the same time although not as seriously as calligraphy. Having developed a love of poetry, culture, and literature, Mahdieh studied English Literature as her major. She moved to Tehran then for doing an MA, where she was exposed to most modern art works and artists of the country. It was at this time that she started developing a different approach, working on a postmodern style to integrate classical Persian calligraphy with abstract Western art, creating abstract expressionist calligraphic paintings, which she continues till the present day. Mahdieh is now pursuing her PhD in Comparative Literature at the University of Toronto and has some art projects in hand. She has recently started experimenting artistic expression through the medium of film and cinema. Mahdieh had the privilege of being instructed by some the most acclaimed and widely known contemporary artists.
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