Samira Mohammadkhani

Samira Mohammadkhani is an Iranian-born visual artist, author, and educator based in Seattle. Degrees in Persian Language and Literature and Drama at the University of Tehran shaped her interest in poetry, narrative, symbolism, character, image, and story. Before painting became central to her practice, more than a decade of journalism, writing, and teaching sharpened her observation. Work as an author, cultural journalist, and art educator formed a narrative foundation for the studio and for her dialogue between Persian visual traditions and contemporary forms.

Mohammadkhani's relationship with painting began in 2010, while her mother was undergoing cancer treatment. It became a sanctuary from uncertainty, then gradually grew into a sustained practice. She studied painting in Iran and continued developing drawing, composition, color, acrylic, and abstraction in the United States, moving toward an independent contemporary language.

As her contemporary painting developed, Mohammadkhani turned toward the visual traditions of her cultural heritage. She studied Persian calligraphy, Tazhib, Gol-o-Morgh, Negargari, and traditional Persian painting, absorbing their disciplines of line, ornament, and pattern. She does not keep those practices separate from abstraction. Poetry, symbolism, nature, ink, watercolor, acrylic, and gouache meet within an evolving vocabulary shaped by memory, spirituality, and cultural inheritance. In conversation with contemporary image-making, tradition remains living: connected to its origins while open to new meanings.

Teaching and writing remain integral to Mohammadkhani's public practice. Across more than sixteen years, she has taught visual art in Iran and the United States. Since 2019, exhibitions have brought her photography, painting, and Persian calligraphy to London, Seattle, and Murcia.

Juried exhibitions and publications have brought recognition through Spirituality 2024, Artists Who Teach, Artistonish, Artsy, and Gallery Ring's Golden Trio Award. Exhibitions continued in Murcia and Seattle in 2025. She continues painting and teaching while exploring 3D character animation in Autodesk Maya, where movement, gesture, and character extend her visual language.