Maliheh Zafarnezhad

b. 1981, Iran

Maliheh Zafarnezhad (b. 1981, Iran), is a practiced and educated Irish-Iranian artist and art teacher with more than two decades of experience in multidisciplinary fine art, painting, and mixed-media, a resident of V.O Curations Angel in London, and M.A. in Art and Architecture. Maliheh's artistic and professional profile has been recognized internationally, invited to hold art exhibitions, workshops, and speeches, contributing to art magazines worldwide, such as Iran, Ireland, Germany, USA, and UAE across different fine art disciplines.

Inspirations for her artworks mainly come from a multi-national identity, mixed culture, immigration experiences, and childhood memories from Iran. Maliheh has spent the majority of her life in her birth country, where she was forced to navigate a labyrinth of gender limitations. As a result, the majority of Maliheh's paintings feature female portraits with thought-provoking statements about love, sentiments, loyalty, obligation, and social issues. Maliheh's primary mediums are acrylic gel transfer and collage. By combining photos from her personal antique family photos with archival photos of historical artwork, the collage pieces decontextualize images. These works could be interpreted as passionate attempts to carefully touch and stir the highest human emotions, as well as to sketch out the contradictions and complexities of identity.

Durham University's Oriental Museum has acquired one of her works to add to their permanent collection. Maliheh Zafarnezhad is a resident of Arts Central in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom.