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HADIEH AFSHANI

HADIEH AFSHANI

  • About
  • Works
    • ARCHITECTURE OF RESILIENCE
    • EMBODYING ESSENCE
    • BECOMING
    • ONCE AGAIN, DISPLACED
    • LAND CONNECTION
    • INTIMATE SPACE
    • THE INTIMATE LIFE AND DEATH
    • HOPE TREE
    • THE FIRST SUPPER
    • DAUGHTERS OF TROY
  • Contact
  • instagarm

Hadieh Afshani Instagram

I made this body of work in the middle of chaos. I made this body of work in the middle of chaos.

Over the past six months, I’ve been building this new series while caring for baby Elio — between breastfeeding, holding him, comforting him, and returning to the studio whenever I could. What emerged from this period became Randomness / Architecture of Resilience: a reflection on change, uncertainty, motherhood, and our attempt to create meaning within unpredictable forces.

Tomorrow my studio at Mana Contemporary will be open from 12–6 PM, and I would truly love for you to come experience the work in person. Your presence, conversations, reflections, and support mean so much 🤍
Studio 348
Motherhood. A quiet opening into endless possibil Motherhood.

A quiet opening into endless possibilities . 
A soft unraveling of the self.

It makes me vulnerable in ways I never knew— 
so vulnerable that I have to hold tightly to the present moment, 
or else be carried away by the endless noise of the mind.

And suddenly, a forgotten joy returns. 
A joy I had not felt since childhood.

The smallest moments begin to glow with meaning: 
a look, a sound, a tiny hand, the light of an ordinary afternoon. 
Things too simple to describe become unbearably precious.

I move through the world again 
like a child seeing everything for the first time.

And time— 
time no longer stands still. 
It rushes past me, 
as though it had been asleep for centuries before motherhood awakened it.

Sometimes I wish I could pause it all— 
stretch these fleeting moments into something endless, 
even among the exhaustion, the chaos, the nonstop rhythm of care.

Thank you for bringing me back to wonder. 

#mothersdaypost
I’m happy to share that I have a piece included in I’m happy to share that I have a piece included in Riot of Spring at 14C Art Fair in Jersey City. The opening is tonight, with more events happening throughout the weekend, including Sunday.

The work I’m showing comes from my ongoing thoughts around randomness, uncertainty, and the way we move through life trying to make meaning from unexpected events. Sometimes it feels like randomness is the stronger force — shaping us in ways we cannot fully control. Yet through attention, memory, and care, we continue creating narratives and connections around what feels important, beautiful, painful, or worthy of being seen.

For me, making art is part of that dialogue. A way of responding to uncertainty and giving shape to experiences that otherwise feel impossible to hold onto.

If you’re nearby, I’d love for you to stop by. 🌱

#RiotOfSpring #JerseyCityArts #ContemporaryArt #InstallationArt MixedMediaArt #motherhood 

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mayhem-14c-mothers-day-performances-open-studios-tickets-1985594534704
I’m really grateful to share that my work is featu I’m really grateful to share that my work is featured in A View From the Easel #334 on Hyperallergic.

This piece reflects a rhythm that has become very real in my life lately—moving between the studio and motherhood, working in fragments, returning, layering, letting things unfold. The interruptions, the pauses, the unpredictability… they’ve slowly become part of how I see and build the work.

Thank you to everyone who continues to support and see what I’m doing—it truly means a lot 🤍

🔗 link in bio

#hyperallergic #contemporaryart #paintingprocess #artistmother studiopractice mixedmedia layering immigrantartist womenartists artandlife jerseycityartists manacontemporary
Grateful to have been part of Threads: Shared Pers Grateful to have been part of Threads: Shared Perspectives from Iran and the Middle East, a powerful exhibition bringing together voices across histories, geographies, and lived experiences.

It meant a lot to present my work alongside such thoughtful artists, and to be in dialogue with their practices within this shared space.

The exhibition was recently featured in The Record (North Jersey), and I’m honored that my work was included in the article.

Thank you to Andrea for the thoughtful curation, and to Mariam Masoud and the Middle Eastern Arts Collective for making this exhibition possible. It was also a pleasure to see such strong community engagement throughout—including a visit from the Mayor of Paterson.

Looking forward to staying connected with this community 🌿

#ThreadsExhibition #MiddleEasternArt #IranianArtist #ContemporaryArt #WomenArtists DiasporaArt NJArts PatersonNJ ArtistCommunity ArtExhibition
Last night’s opening of The Flat Files at Mana Con Last night’s opening of The Flat Files at Mana Contemporary felt quietly powerful ✨

So grateful to be part of this group show and to share works from my ongoing exploration of resilience, architecture, and the unpredictability of form. These pieces carry fragments of time, movement, and memory—layers that continue to unfold with each viewing.

Thank you to everyone who came, spent time with the work, and shared conversations. And to the artists in this show—it’s an honor to be alongside you 🤍

—

#ManaContemporary #FlatFiles #ArtOpening #JerseyCityArt #ContemporaryArt ArtistLife VisualArt AbstractArt LayeredArt ArtExhibition ArtCommunity NYCArtists WomenArtists ImmigrantArtist ArtAndArchitecture
I’m really happy to be part of Flat Files, opening I’m really happy to be part of Flat Files, opening this Saturday at Mana Contemporary.

I’ll be showing a selection of works from my ongoing Architecture of Resilience project—pieces that have grown slowly through layering, repetition, and moments of unpredictability. They come out of a very personal place, shaped by movement, uncertainty, and the need to find some kind of grounding through making.

It feels special to share these works in this context, and I’d love to see familiar faces or meet new ones there.

Opening: Saturday 
Mana Contemporary, Jersey City

#pierogigallery #ManaContemporary #JerseyCityArt #ContemporaryArt #MixedMediaArt ProcessBasedArt AbstractArt ArtExhibition ArtOpening WomenArtists ImmigrantArtists NYCArtScene JerseyCityArtists ArtCommunity StudioPractice Resilience ArchitectureOfResilience Randomness ArtAndLife
Hanging gardens— Babylon a civilization lifting b Hanging gardens—
Babylon

a civilization
lifting beauty
into the air

Hanging

centuries later

the young people of Iran

Hanging

the same word
carrying
two histories

one imagined

one lived

This is the story
that does not end..

#executioniniran 
#memoryandhistory
#collectivememory
#violenceandbeauty
#languageandmeanings
Last night’s opening of Threads —shared perspectiv Last night’s opening of Threads —shared perspectives from Iran and the Middle Eastern exhibition hosted by the Middle Eastern Arts Collective in Paterson — was truly beautiful.

Grateful to be part of this show and to share space with such powerful voices. Thank you so much to Andrea for her thoughtful curation and for bringing this exhibition together.

Congratulations to all the artists — it was an inspiring and meaningful opening ✨
I miss my mother, my motherland, my people—now mor I miss my mother, my motherland, my people—now more than ever. What I hear, what I see, feels unreal. I cannot make sense of what is unfolding around me. My people are being forced into silence, threatened with being wiped out—their voices, and the voices of their ancestors. Mother, can you hear me?

#VoiceOfIran, #StandWithIran, #IranianVoices, #FreedomForIran, #humanityatrisk
I pray to the trees— the old trees of Iran, and t I pray to the trees— 
the old trees of Iran, and the trees of every place I have lived. 

These days, I pray for the health and safety of my family, my people. 
I do not know what the future holds for my country. 

I do not place my trust easily in power—anywhere. 
But I have seen what happens when voices are silenced, when truth has no space to breathe. 

So I turn to the trees. 
To what endures beyond regimes, beyond fear, beyond time. 

For decades, as a visual artist, I have returned to them— 
again and again—through my work. 

These images are part of that ongoing conversation. 

I hope they are listening. 
I hope they will carry us through.

#Iran #FreeIran #IranWar #MiddleEast #WarAndPeace
WomanLifeFreedom MahsaAmini WomenVoices
HopeTree TreesOfLife SacredTrees NatureAsWitness
ArtAsResistance ContemporaryArt DiasporaVoices
First layer. Accident. Chance. The unknown. So muc First layer.
Accident. Chance. The unknown.
So much is out of our control—
this is where the work begins.
#workinprogress
A striving for survival— to carve a path out of th A striving for survival—
to carve a path out of the chaos of life toward something that feels worth living for.

This has become central to my practice:
a tension between what we construct—architecture, spaces of belief, reproduction, meaning—
and the forces of chance, nature, and a chaos that can, at times, appear beautiful.

I return to nature as a point of reference—
trees, seasons, cycles of cold and heat—
as a way to understand both fragility and persistence.

Over time, we become layered.
My works follow a similar process: built through translucent layers of paint that hold the memory of what lies beneath.

Using materials that allow for transparency and continuity, I work with chance—
introducing marks, dots, and dispersed color—
not to eliminate unpredictability, but to move through it,
transforming it into something that can hold meaning.

And I continue, sustained by this hope for meaning.

March 2026

تلاش برای بقا؛
برای اینکه از دلِ هرج‌ومرج زندگی، راهی بسازیم به سوی چیزی که ارزش زنده‌بودن داشته باشد.

این دغدغه‌ای‌ست که ذهن من را درگیر کرده و به محور کارم تبدیل شده است.
تقابل میان ساخته‌های ما—معماری، فضاهایی برای پیوند دادن باورها، تولید مثل، و معناهای ریز و درشتی که به ما رسیده یا خود می‌سازیم—
در برابر هجوم اتفاق، طبیعت، و هرج‌ومرجی که گاهی حتی زیبا به نظر می‌رسد.

مفهوم زیبایی…
درک ما از آن،
و نیاز ما به حضورش—
و طبیعت، به عنوان مرجعی که بارها به آن بازمی‌گردیم.

طبیعت…
بهار، درخت، سرما و گرما.

ما پیر می‌شویم و لایه‌لایه‌تر.
همان‌طور که کارهایم ساخته می‌شوند:
از لایه‌های شفاف رنگ، که خاطره‌ی لایه‌های پیشین را در خود نگه می‌دارند.

این شیوه‌ی کار من است؛
استفاده از موادی که امکان شفافیت و تداوم را فراهم می‌کنند،
و نقطه‌گذاری‌هایی در اطراف فرم‌ها و رنگ‌های به‌ظاهر تصادفی—
تلاشی برای عبور از اتفاق،
و تبدیل آن به چیزی فراتر:
به معنا.

و من، به امید همین معنا، ادامه می‌دهم.

March 2026
⁨ وقتی نوزده سالم بود، به دعوت یکی از دوستانم به ی ⁨	وقتی نوزده سالم بود، به دعوت یکی از دوستانم به یک NGO در ایران رفتم. گروهی از جوان‌های هم‌سن بودیم که دور هم جمع می‌شدیم، نشریه‌ای چاپ می‌کردیم و گاهی برنامه‌هایی برگزار می‌کردیم. آن زمان دوران خاتمی بود و به فعالیت‌های مدنی بیشتر توجه می‌شد. شوخی همیشگی‌مان این بود که بزرگ‌ترین دستاورد انجمن این بود که چند زوج از دلش بیرون آمد!

چند سال بعد با یکی از همان بچه‌ها به استرالیا رفتم. در بریزبن، همراه چند نفر دیگر یک برنامه رادیویی فارسی‌زبان راه انداختیم و هم‌زمان نسل جوان‌تر ایرانی‌ها هم کم‌کم وارد کانون ایرانیان شدند و فعالیت‌هایش را برای نسل ما جذاب‌تر کردند.

آن زمان رابطه‌ی من رابطه‌ی سختی بود و راستش خیلی وقت‌ها رفتن به جلسه‌ها برایم آسان نبود. اما با خودم فکر می‌کردم کاری را که با هم شروع کرده‌ایم باید ادامه بدهیم، و شاید همین کار بتواند به او هم کمک کند که زندگی را امیدوارتر ادامه بدهد. برای همین با وجود سختی‌ها در جلسه‌ها شرکت می‌کردم و در کارها همراهی می‌کردم.

بعدها من از بریزبن رفتم، اما آن جمع قوی‌تر شد. کانون توانست برای خودش ساختمان بگیرد و شبکه‌ای از ایرانی‌ها شکل گرفت که هنوز هم فعال است. خیلی‌ها که از بریزبن به خاطر کار یا هر دلیل دیگری می‌روند، همیشه دوست دارند برگردند، چون بریزبن برایشان مثل خانه است. حتی خواننده‌ها و هنرمندهایی که برای برنامه به شهرهای مختلف می‌روند، خیلی وقت‌ها می‌گویند بهترین ایرانی‌ها را در بریزبن دیده‌اند—نه لزوماً چون بهتر از بقیه‌اند، بلکه چون بیشتر از جاهای دیگر به هم وصل‌اند.

صدای Save Our Girls را که از کوینزلند شنیدم(برای نجات فوتبالیستهای ایرانی)، بیشتر مطمئن شدم که چقدر این شبکه آنجا قویه و چقدر داره به هممون کمک می‌کنه.

وقتی حالا به گذشته نگاه می‌کنم، می‌بینم سهم من در آن ماجرا واقعاً خیلی کوچک بود. اما همان تکه‌های کوچک کنار هم یک شبکه قوی ساختند؛ شبکه‌ای که می‌تواند آدم‌ها را به هم وصل کند، حمایت کند و حتی نجات بدهد.

فکر می‌کنم برای ما مهاجرها چیزی که کمک می‌کند دوام بیاوریم همین حس تعلق است—حسی که از همین کارهای کوچک و ساده شکل می‌گیرد.

ای ول به همتون بچه‌ها! 🩵⁩
Some days are like gifts for our future.. #mother Some days are like gifts for our future..

#motherhood #snowdayfun #familytime❤️

Find more in Instagram

I made this body of work in the middle of chaos. I made this body of work in the middle of chaos.

Over the past six months, I’ve been building this new series while caring for baby Elio — between breastfeeding, holding him, comforting him, and returning to the studio whenever I could. What emerged from this period became Randomness / Architecture of Resilience: a reflection on change, uncertainty, motherhood, and our attempt to create meaning within unpredictable forces.

Tomorrow my studio at Mana Contemporary will be open from 12–6 PM, and I would truly love for you to come experience the work in person. Your presence, conversations, reflections, and support mean so much 🤍
Studio 348
Motherhood. A quiet opening into endless possibil Motherhood.

A quiet opening into endless possibilities . 
A soft unraveling of the self.

It makes me vulnerable in ways I never knew— 
so vulnerable that I have to hold tightly to the present moment, 
or else be carried away by the endless noise of the mind.

And suddenly, a forgotten joy returns. 
A joy I had not felt since childhood.

The smallest moments begin to glow with meaning: 
a look, a sound, a tiny hand, the light of an ordinary afternoon. 
Things too simple to describe become unbearably precious.

I move through the world again 
like a child seeing everything for the first time.

And time— 
time no longer stands still. 
It rushes past me, 
as though it had been asleep for centuries before motherhood awakened it.

Sometimes I wish I could pause it all— 
stretch these fleeting moments into something endless, 
even among the exhaustion, the chaos, the nonstop rhythm of care.

Thank you for bringing me back to wonder. 

#mothersdaypost
I’m happy to share that I have a piece included in I’m happy to share that I have a piece included in Riot of Spring at 14C Art Fair in Jersey City. The opening is tonight, with more events happening throughout the weekend, including Sunday.

The work I’m showing comes from my ongoing thoughts around randomness, uncertainty, and the way we move through life trying to make meaning from unexpected events. Sometimes it feels like randomness is the stronger force — shaping us in ways we cannot fully control. Yet through attention, memory, and care, we continue creating narratives and connections around what feels important, beautiful, painful, or worthy of being seen.

For me, making art is part of that dialogue. A way of responding to uncertainty and giving shape to experiences that otherwise feel impossible to hold onto.

If you’re nearby, I’d love for you to stop by. 🌱

#RiotOfSpring #JerseyCityArts #ContemporaryArt #InstallationArt MixedMediaArt #motherhood 

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mayhem-14c-mothers-day-performances-open-studios-tickets-1985594534704
I’m really grateful to share that my work is featu I’m really grateful to share that my work is featured in A View From the Easel #334 on Hyperallergic.

This piece reflects a rhythm that has become very real in my life lately—moving between the studio and motherhood, working in fragments, returning, layering, letting things unfold. The interruptions, the pauses, the unpredictability… they’ve slowly become part of how I see and build the work.

Thank you to everyone who continues to support and see what I’m doing—it truly means a lot 🤍

🔗 link in bio

#hyperallergic #contemporaryart #paintingprocess #artistmother studiopractice mixedmedia layering immigrantartist womenartists artandlife jerseycityartists manacontemporary
Grateful to have been part of Threads: Shared Pers Grateful to have been part of Threads: Shared Perspectives from Iran and the Middle East, a powerful exhibition bringing together voices across histories, geographies, and lived experiences.

It meant a lot to present my work alongside such thoughtful artists, and to be in dialogue with their practices within this shared space.

The exhibition was recently featured in The Record (North Jersey), and I’m honored that my work was included in the article.

Thank you to Andrea for the thoughtful curation, and to Mariam Masoud and the Middle Eastern Arts Collective for making this exhibition possible. It was also a pleasure to see such strong community engagement throughout—including a visit from the Mayor of Paterson.

Looking forward to staying connected with this community 🌿

#ThreadsExhibition #MiddleEasternArt #IranianArtist #ContemporaryArt #WomenArtists DiasporaArt NJArts PatersonNJ ArtistCommunity ArtExhibition
Last night’s opening of The Flat Files at Mana Con Last night’s opening of The Flat Files at Mana Contemporary felt quietly powerful ✨

So grateful to be part of this group show and to share works from my ongoing exploration of resilience, architecture, and the unpredictability of form. These pieces carry fragments of time, movement, and memory—layers that continue to unfold with each viewing.

Thank you to everyone who came, spent time with the work, and shared conversations. And to the artists in this show—it’s an honor to be alongside you 🤍

—

#ManaContemporary #FlatFiles #ArtOpening #JerseyCityArt #ContemporaryArt ArtistLife VisualArt AbstractArt LayeredArt ArtExhibition ArtCommunity NYCArtists WomenArtists ImmigrantArtist ArtAndArchitecture
I’m really happy to be part of Flat Files, opening I’m really happy to be part of Flat Files, opening this Saturday at Mana Contemporary.

I’ll be showing a selection of works from my ongoing Architecture of Resilience project—pieces that have grown slowly through layering, repetition, and moments of unpredictability. They come out of a very personal place, shaped by movement, uncertainty, and the need to find some kind of grounding through making.

It feels special to share these works in this context, and I’d love to see familiar faces or meet new ones there.

Opening: Saturday 
Mana Contemporary, Jersey City

#pierogigallery #ManaContemporary #JerseyCityArt #ContemporaryArt #MixedMediaArt ProcessBasedArt AbstractArt ArtExhibition ArtOpening WomenArtists ImmigrantArtists NYCArtScene JerseyCityArtists ArtCommunity StudioPractice Resilience ArchitectureOfResilience Randomness ArtAndLife
Hanging gardens— Babylon a civilization lifting b Hanging gardens—
Babylon

a civilization
lifting beauty
into the air

Hanging

centuries later

the young people of Iran

Hanging

the same word
carrying
two histories

one imagined

one lived

This is the story
that does not end..

#executioniniran 
#memoryandhistory
#collectivememory
#violenceandbeauty
#languageandmeanings
Last night’s opening of Threads —shared perspectiv Last night’s opening of Threads —shared perspectives from Iran and the Middle Eastern exhibition hosted by the Middle Eastern Arts Collective in Paterson — was truly beautiful.

Grateful to be part of this show and to share space with such powerful voices. Thank you so much to Andrea for her thoughtful curation and for bringing this exhibition together.

Congratulations to all the artists — it was an inspiring and meaningful opening ✨

Copyright © 2026 HADIEH AFSHANI. All Rights Reserved. | Catch Fullscreen by Catch Themes
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