Faculty of Art
Drawing and Painting
Meet the Artist
Arina
Kalantar Hormozi
Drawing & Painting
“My practice examines the relationship between material and metaphysical worlds, using painting and installation to explore how space, form, and symbolism shape human experience. Drawing on Persian visual traditions, Islamic architecture, and mystical thought, I construct layered environments that engage ideas of perception, spirituality, and interconnectedness. Through an emphasis on structure, ornament, and process, my work investigates how meaning emerges between the visible and the invisible, positioning art as a site for reflection, transformation, and expanded ways of understanding reality.”

Arina Kalantar Hormozi (b. 1996) is an Iranian artist based in Toronto. She initially studied Petroleum Engineering in Iran before shifting her focus to art. She completed two years of training in traditional drawing and painting prior to pursuing a BFA in Drawing & Painting at OCAD University, with a minor in Art History. Her practice spans painting, installation, sculpture, and digital media. Grounded in research in art history, philosophy, and contemporary discourse, her work engages themes of modernity, decolonization, materialism, spirituality, and the sociology of art, translating complex ideas into visual form.
OCAD U - Faculty of Arts & Science
Art History
Minor In progress, 2026
Sharif University of Technology
Petroleum Engineering
Major Completed, 2019
Painting Gilding Mixed media installation Persian miniature painting Islamic architecture and visual culture Transcultural and decolonial frameworks Resistance and collective memory
2024, Frances Lea Ziegler Memorial Scholarship
OCAD University
2023, Birgid Ebsen Scholarship
OCAD University

Painting
Companions of Burning I ( در غم ما روز ها بیگاه شد روزها با سوز ها همراه شد - مولانا)
Painting
Companions of Burning II ( در غم ما روز ها بیگاه شد روزها با سوز ها همراه شد - مولانا)
Painting
Companions of Burning III ( در غم ما روز ها بیگاه شد روزها با سوز ها همراه شد - مولانا)
Painting
Emptied of Self (مثل نی خود را ز خود کردی تهی بر نوای دیگران دل می نهی - اقبال لاهوری)
Painting
Longing for Return (هر کسی کو دور ماند از اصل خویش باز جوید روزگار وصل خویش - مولانا )
Painting
The Reed Speaks (نی حدیث راه پر خون می کند قصه های عشق مجنون می کند - مولانا)