“There are some unconscious recollections that we don’t remember, yet I dream about them. In my art practice, liminal zones and dualities that I have been witnessing inspire me. I investigate these by periodically searching for spaces my body has occupied whether they are intimate or historic places. I have been constantly moving: from Iran, where I was born, to Australia when I was maturing, to the USA; from state to state, West to East, evolving as a nomad woman. To depict the feeling of uncertainty in those becoming places, I use layers of transparent paint or dry mediums to create wavy forms and figures at different spaces, unfolding nostalgia, and fantasies about the past and people, life and death, love and hope.”
Hadieh has been exhibiting in different galleries, museums and art fairs internationally. Her last solo art show “Moving- Living- Being Sequence” took place at Chelsea, New York at Crossing Art Gallery in 2020. Her painting “Motion of Light” took top honors in the 2014 St. George Art Awards in Sydney, Australia. A solo exhibition, “Self-Space Universe,” took place in 2016 at Redland Art Gallery in Queensland, Australia. Her work explores themes of womanhood and connection to places.
Born and raised in Iran, Hadieh Afshani studied Visual Art at the undergraduate level in Tehran, and then immigrated to Australia, where she lived for nearly a decade before moving to New York City. She received an MFA from Queensland College of Arts – Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia.
Along with being an artist, Hadieh curates art shows for RE: ARTISTE International Art Organization in New York City and work as academic Specialist in graphic art at Union County College in New Jersey.
EDUCATIONS
| 2013-2016 | Master of Visual Art with Research Queensland College of Art– Griffith University, Brisbane |
| 2008-2012 | Master of Arts with Honors in Visual Arts (in Fine Arts) Queensland College of Art- Griffith University, Brisbane |
| 2000-2005 | Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting Alzahra University, Tehran |
AWARDS
| 2018 | Winner of National Arts Program Competition, Union County, New Jersey |
| 2015 | Awarded in Chelsea International, Art Competition, Agora Gallery, New York |
| 2014 | Winner of St George Art Awards, Hurstville City Library Museum; Gallery, NSW |
| 2013 | Winner of the first and the second prizes of Insight Nude Award of Aspects Art Prize, QLD |
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2021 Moving- Living- Being SEQUENCE, Art Fair 14C, Mana Contemporary, New Jersey
2020 Moving- Living- Being SEQUENCE, Crossing Art Gallery, Chelsea, New York
| 2018 | Land Connection National Hispanic Cultural Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S. |
| 2016 | Self-Space Universe Redland Regional Art Gallery, Redland, Queensland, Australia |
| 2014 | Hope Tree Project Gallery of QCA South Bank, Brisbane, Australia |
| 2011 | Absence and Presence Project Gallery of QCA South Bank, Brisbane, Australia |
COLLABORATIONS
| 2016-17 | Daughters of Troy Project Theatre and visual art collaborative project, Dixon Place Theatre, New York City |
| 2016 | The First Supper Installation Art Project Re:artiste International Art Organization, MC Gallery, New York City< |
| 2013 | Reflection Art Project Multicultural Development Association (MDA), Brisbane, Australia |
CURATORIAL PROJECT
| 2017-18 | Transformation International Art Exhibition Reartiste International Art Organization, Gallery MC, NYC |
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS/ART FAIR
| 2018 | Inner Fragments, Emery Community Arts Center, Farmington, Maine |
| 2018 | Inner Fragments, Norwest Gallery Detroit, Michigan |
| 2018 | SuperFine Art Fair Manhattan, New York |
| 2018 | Female Power Art Exhibition, Rockwall Studios Bushwick, New York |
| 2017 | Kooshk Residency Artists Exhibition Tehran, Iran |
| 2017 | Daughters of Troy Exhibition Governors Island, New York |
| 2016 | The First Supper Art Exhibition MC Gallery, New York |
| 2016 | Finalist of the “Show Your World” International Art Competition New York |
| 2015 | Finalist “The Moist”, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art California |
| 2015 | Finalist of the 9th Arte Laguna, Venice |
| 2014 | Finalist Young International Contest of Contemporary Art Florence |
| 2012- 2014 | Finalist in A.M.E. Bale Travelling Scholarship and Art Prize, Gallery of Glen Eira City Council, Melbourne |
| 2014 | Finalist Queensland Regional Art Awards, Queensland Regional Galleries |
| 2010-2014 | Finalist Redland Art Awards, Redland Art Gallery QLD |
| 2014 | Finalist Kenilworth painting prize , Kenilworth Arts Council |
| 2014 | Finalist Queensland Figurative painting prize, Petrie Terrace Gallery Brisbane |
| 2013 | Shadow of a Mouse, Griffith Film School Petrie Terrace Gallery |
| 2012-2013 | Full Circle, Royal Queensland Art Society Brisbane |
| 2010-2011-2012 | Finalist Lethbridge 10000 Small- Scale Art Award |
| 2006 | Finalist International Islamic Biennial, Honor Art Centre Tehran |
MEDIA PUBLICATIONS
Winter 2021 Selected artists, All She Makes Magazine, New York
| Sep 2018 | Contemporary Iranian art on exhibit at UMF Emery Community Arts Center, Daily Bulldog-Franklin County’s First news, Maine |
| Apr 2018 | Selected Artist: Hadieh Afshani , ZARD magazine, Pages 92-95, Tehran Iran |
| Feb 2017 | Hadieh Afshani, uncommontendency.com, Franki Mancinelli |
| Jan 2017 | Artists at Work at the Feminist Art Conference, McClung’s (A feminist magazine based out of Ryerson University), Karen Sandoval-Santana |
| Nov 2016 | DAUGHTERS OF TROY Set for One-Night-Only Performance at Dixon Place , broadwayworld.com, NY |
| June 2016 | Artist Talk: “What is Feminist Art?” , Tribeca Tribe, Lower Manhattan, NY |
| Apr 2016 | Peace, coexistence, and women empowerment , Yedioth Tel Aviv, Page 42, Israel |
| May 2016 | The Identity of Space and Place , Australian Artists Magazine, Pages 14-19, Australia |
| Feb 2016 | Art Celebrates Women , Redland Bulletin, Queensland, Australia |
| March 2016 | Collaborate for #ICareFor, Light Space and Time Online Art Gallery, www.lightspacetime.com |
| Feb 2015 | The Plays of Lights, Australian Artists Magazine, Pages 14-18, Australia |
| Jun 2015 | OCCCA Gets ‘Moist’, OC WEEKLEY, Dave Barton, California, U.S.A |
| Feb 2015 | Hadieh Afshani , Art Katalyst Magazine, Toronto, Canada |
| Jan 2015 | Filed: Artist on Immigration , soundcloud.com/hamrahradio |
| Oct 2014 | Fine Art Masters student wins St George Art Award 2014 , Casey Stewart, Griffith University Webpage |
| Nov 2014 | Hadieh Afshani transformed the Motion of Light won St George Art award , Leader Newspaper, By Maria Galinovic, NSW, Australia |
| Nov 2014 | Friday for Life-Hadieh Afshani , Iranwire.com |
| May 2014 | Hadieh’s Journey put on Canvas , Southern Stars News Paper, QLD, Australia |
| May 2014 | Light and shadows in Iran and Australia: artist Hadieh Afshani, whereareyoufromau.wordpress.com |
| Jan 2014 | Life Drawing 2 Review , kevlee88.wordpress.com |
COLLECTIONS
Crossing Art Gallery, Chelsea, New York
Sydney Library Museum Gallery, Hurstville City Council, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Petrie Terrace Art Gallery, Royal Queensland Art Society, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
RESIDENCY
| 2017 | Iran-Mexico exchange program, Kooshk residency, and Aquatopia Art Foundation |
JURY PERFORMANCE
| 2016- 2017 | Show Your World International Art Competition, Reartiste International Art Organization, Gallery MC NYC |
| 2018 | Environmental and Food Chain Art Competition, Show Your World International Art Competition, Reartiste International Art Organization, Gallery MC, NYC |
LECTURING AND TUTORING
| 2018-Now | Advanced Graphic design, 2D design, History of Architecture, Appreciation of Art, Introduction to Drawing and Introduction to Painting, Union County College, NJ |
| 2009-2015 | Fine Art/studio art courses, Queensland College of Art- Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD Australia |
| 2009-2015 | Graphic Design/studio art courses, Queensland College of Art- Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD Australia |
| 2014-2015 | Life Drawing for Animation , Queensland Film School-Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD Australia |
| 2015 | Tonal Value in Life Drawing, Artists Society of Canberra, Canberra, ACT, Australia |
| 2014 | Hands on watercolor, Queensland Art Gallery- QAGOMA, Brisbane, Australia |
LECTURES AND PRESENTATIONS
| 2017 | Conference paper presentation at Strangers in New Homelands Conference 2017, Double Displacement- The experience of Middle Eastern Immigrants, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada |
| 2016-2017 | Art Instructor, Symphony Space, New York City |
| 2016 | Drawing and Design Fundamentals, Gallery MC, New York, NY, U.S.A. |
| 2015 | Conference paper presentation, Contemporary Art and the means of Beauty in Middle Eastern Society comparing to what we see in the West, The Representational Art Conference 2015, Ventura, CA, U.S.A. |