Sepideh Salehi research, through a variety of media spanning from printing, photography and video animation, often using traditional Iranian patterns, revolves around the poetics of veil, an accessory that is by nature used to cover, obscure, or protect. The veil is a clear reference to issues of social and political repression in Iran, a country where extreme is the control of every aspect of social and personal life. Through her work the artist investigates themes related to covering up and hiding, as well as privacy and protection. By incorporating aspects of storytelling and letter writing, Salehi recollects the experiences she had growing up in post-1979 Tehran. She weaves personal narrative and cultural history into her work, reflecting on the ways in which she, and other women, navigated the shifting social and political landscapes. However, topics explored such as violence, identity straddling national borders and cultures as well as woman’s condition in our contemporary society raise questions that refer to a more universal way of thinking.

Salehi mixes intuitive painting and collage processes with a conceptual practice rooted in emotions and memories related to separation from home and family. In her recent series of photographic collages, which picture obscured faces, the artist explores the connection between body, landscape, and the unknown. Says the artist: “The question of how living in different environments shapes our sense of self frequently informs the work, as do ideas of belonging.”

 

Sepideh Salehi moved to Italy to attend the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, where she obtained a Master in Fine Arts in Visual and Multimedia Arts in 2006. She has participated in many solo and group exhibitions, including the one at the Luigi Pecci Center for Contemporary Art (Prato). She currently lives and works between Washington DC and New York.

​