I am an Iranian-Canadian artist and a graduate in photography from Central Saint Martins. In my practice, I focus on cultural changes in relation to gender identity. I tend to use my body as the subject of my photographs where, through role-play, I travel through ambiguous and often marginalized identities. My projects begin with archival research and investigative fieldwork. I then translate this research into games of impersonation and caricature involving elaborate cosmetics, masks, and prosthetics. I continue to study and reference figures like Claude Cahun, Sophie Calle and Taryn Simon.
In one of my recent projects, I studied gender representation in relation to the history of cultural exchange between Europe and Middle East, focusing on 19th century Iranian royal painting. In a solo exhibition in 2015 in Tehran, I drew parallels between this research and the practice of cross-dressing more broadly.