For over two decades, I’ve been captivated by the power of storytelling, using my illustrations to bring tales to life. My journey began in my native Iran, where I had the honor of working on over 100 children’s books. Since moving to the UK in 2016, I’ve continued to explore the intersection of cultures, creating works that resonate with diverse audiences. My passion for bridging worlds is evident in projects like ‘Here Be Monsters’ and the ‘Princess Mina’ series.
Here in the UK my journey has continued with some success: I was selected onto a programme for emerging illustrators from underrepresented backgrounds that led to the book ‘Here Be Monsters’, which was nominated for the Kate Greenway Medal. Following that I began illustraing the ‘Princess Minna’ series, which was shortlisted for the Alligator Mouth Award.
These works highlight my ability to illustrate narratives outside of my native Iran, and do so in a way that crosses cultural boundaries and resonates with diverse audiences. I believe it’s this ability that has meant my Iranian book, ‘Mummy, I love you,’ is now being translated from Persian to Greek. As part of the launch for ‘Here Be Monsters’ we were commissioned by the Southbank Centre to create an immersive storytelling workshop. This lit a fire in me to go beyond books in the future and bring them to life in an immersive way. Living in the UK’s multiethnic society and working with so many different professionals – from writers and editors to agents and art directors – has inspired me to further explore the transformative power of cultural narratives. I would like to bring an element of my own rich culture to Britain but make it relevant for the
times we live in. This has been the history of both Iran and Britain: exchanging, learning and evolving our precious stories.
For over a year, I have been working on larger pieces in the form of paintings and lightweight sculptures. These collections are abstract, and I am trying to represent a different kind of storytelling through them. Recently, I have been working on a ‘Hyle’ series, which consists of sculptures made with the papier-mâché technique, with drawings then added to them. The drawings themselves were previously created using various techniques like charcoal or manual prints.