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Faculty of Art

Photography

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Mehrana

Nazari

photography

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MehranaNazari
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I am an Iranian-Canadian visual artist working primarily in photography, with a strong engagement in art history. My photographic practice explores personal narrative, identity, and emotion, using self-portraiture and constructed imagery as tools for expression. Through my work, I examine inner states, feelings of displacement, memory, and psychological tension, creating images that are deeply personal while resonating with broader human experiences.Alongside my artistic practice, my research focuses on how art reflects and shapes power, ideology, and cultural values. I am particularly interested in painting, photography, and architecture, with a focus on Early Modern European art and architecture as well as Islamic art and architecture. My research critically engages with the ways art history has historically privileged certain geographies while marginalizing others, including West Asian, Middle Eastern, and Islamic visual cultures.I am especially drawn to cross-cultural approaches, examining how artists and societies negotiate meaning, identity, and representation within political, religious, and colonial contexts. My recent work is increasingly informed by contemporary political realities, particularly in relation to Iran and the Iranian diaspora, where questions of distance, belonging, and representation become both personal and urgent.By bringing together creative practice and critical research, I aim to create a dialogue between personal experience and historical inquiry. Through both photography and writing, I explore the emotional and structural conditions that shape how we understand art, identity, and place.
OCAD U - Faculty of Art
Photography
Major In progress, 2026
OCAD U - Faculty of Arts & Science
Art History
Minor In progress, 2026
Centennial College
Photography
Major Completed, 2023
2026, Rhythms
Ada Slaight Gallery
2025, HOPE
Gallery 1313
2025, Oscillations
Ada Slaight Gallery
2025, Resolution
Ada Slaight Gallery
2024, Fleshly Desires
Ada Slaight Gallery
2024, Stories of Home
Ada Slaight Gallery
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