Maryam Amirvaghefi (b. 1989, Tehran, Iran) is a multidisciplinary artist working with mixed media, including painting, sculpture, ceramics, handmade papers, and a range of experimental materials. She holds an MFA from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, and a BFA from Sooreh University in Tehran, Iran. Her work has been exhibited internationally at venues such as Contemporary Istanbul Art Fair (Turkey), CICA Museum (South Korea), Mey Gallery (Los Angeles), and Bavan Gallery (Iran), among others. Amirvaghefi’s art has been featured in publications including n+1 Magazine, Dovetail Magazine, AL-TIBA Art Magazine, The Magenta Publication, Studio Visit Magazine, and Average Art Magazine. She currently lives and works in the United States.
Artist Statement
As a woman born and raised in Iran, I carry within me the weight of countless quiet battles— fought at home, in studios, on the streets, and within institutions that were never built for us. My work emerges from this space of tension: between what is offered to women and what we must fight to claim.
Through painting, ceramics, handmade papers, and mixed materials, I explore the visibility and erasure of women—especially those navigating the cultural and political landscapes of the Middle East. My practice is rooted in the experience of constantly having to ask for permission: to speak, to move, to create, to exist. And in that asking, I’ve learned that the act of making can itself be an act of defiance.
Part of my work engages with women in the realm of sports, another public space shaped by restriction and surveillance. But it’s not about sports alone—it’s about access, autonomy, and the right to occupy space. Whether it’s a woman holding a brush or training on a field, she is demanding more than representation—she is insisting on presence.
As an immigrant woman, I have come to understand that the fight doesn’t end when you cross a border. The landscape changes, but the negotiations remain—sometimes quieter, sometimes hidden in microaggressions or in the weight of being constantly “othered.” The struggle to be seen and heard continues in new ways, and so does the need to create as a form of resilience and reclamation.
In Iran, a woman painting an apple is not a neutral act. It is a quiet, radical statement—a refusal to disappear. In each of my works, I aim to capture that spirit of persistence: of being seen, being heard, and being here. My work is a record of resistance, a gesture of solidarity, and a tribute to those who continue, against all odds, to push forward.
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