FATEMEH FAZAYEL
Artist CV
- Tehran and Ardakan, Iran
- Email: Fatemehfazayel@gmail.com
- Instagram: @fatemeh.fazayel
EDUCATION
2019–2021 MA in Painting, Soore University, Tehran, Iran
2015–2019 BA in Painting, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS & ART FAIRS
2026 SUPERMARKET 2026 – Stockholm Independent Art Fair, Stockholm, Sweden. White Cubes, presented by BAST as part of Traces of Participation.
2021 Paper Narratives, Aran Projects, Tehran, Iran
2020 Handwork, 10th Persbook, Kashan, Iran
2018 Retexture, 8th Persbook, Yazd, Iran
2018 Persian Art, Domus Romana Art Gallery, Rome, Italy
2017 War and Peace, Academy of Painters of Azerbaijan, Baku, Azerbaijan
2017 6th Damon Far Painting Biennial, Tehran, Iran PUBLIC ART & SITE-SPECIFIC PROJECTS
2020–ongoing Moving Surfaces, Kashan and Tehran, Iran.An ongoing urban intervention exploring memory, erosion, and the temporary presence of the body in public space. Initiated in Kashan in 2020 and continued in Tehran in 2021, the project remains open to future iterations in other cities.
2019 Divar (Wall), 2nd Adobe Sculpture Symposium, Mehravaran Park, Yazd, Iran Public sculpture made with adobe and locally sourced materials.
2018 White Cubes, Yazd, Iran Site-specific installation using mosquito-net mesh across interconnected rooftops. PERFORMANCES
2023 Double Sugar, Imam Khomeini International Airport, Tehran, Iran
2023 Double Sugar, University of Ardakan, Ardakan, Iran PUBLICATIONS
2022 Karimi, Pamela. Alternative Iran: Contemporary Art and Critical Spatial Practice. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. White Cubes featured.
2020 Mirjahani, Reyhaneh. “Retexture: Traces of Tradition and Contemporary Concerns in Collaboration.” Konesh: Trace, no. 2, Summer 2020, pp. 25–32. Includes discussion and photographic documentation of White Cubes. Cover photograph: White Cubes, by Fatemeh Sadat Fazayel.
Artist Biography
Fatemeh Fazayel was born in Ardakan, Iran, and lives and works between Tehran and Ardakan. She holds a BA in Painting from Alzahra University (2015–2019) and an MA in Painting from Soore University (2019–2021).
Fazayel’s artistic practice began with painting, although experimenting with materials and working at a large scale had been central to her work since her early years at art school. During her university studies, questions surrounding the limitations of painting as a medium led her to explore other forms of making. Working with natural fibres and handmade paper, alongside installation, sculpture, and urban interventions, opened up different ways of investigating the relationships between material, space, and process.
Her life and work between Tehran and Ardakan, together with her connection to the architecture and urban fabric of Yazd, have shaped the development of her practice. White Cubes marked a turning point, allowing her to explore space and temporary structures in relation to the geography of her birthplace and deepening her engagement with site-specificity.
Fazayel has participated in group exhibitions, performances, and public projects. Most recently, her work was presented at Supermarket Independent Art Fair in 2026 through the BAST platform. Her work has also been featured in books and publications addressing contemporary art and spatial interventions.
Artist Statement
Fatemeh Fazayel is an artist living and working between Tehran and Ardakan, Iran. Born in Yazd, her experience of living in the region continues to shape her way of seeing and working. The arches, windcatchers, walls, and passageways of Yazd are more than architectural features; they shape bodily movement, the passage of air, and the experience of space. She approaches architecture as a sculptural structure, experienced through movement and through the relationships between volumes, pathways, and air currents. This understanding of space continues to develop through her movement between Tehran and Ardakan, informing both her spatial perception and her artistic practice.
Fazayel works across painting, drawing, installation, sculpture, and textiles. Her practice attends to everyday situations, the behaviour of materials, and the changes that occur over time or through encounters with the environment. Wind, light, humidity, and the repetition of simple actions can all contribute to the formation of a work. Material is not simply a means of expressing an idea, but an active participant in the process through which the work takes shape and changes.
Her work explores temporary structures and acts of care in relation to time and erosion. What is made to hold or protect does not necessarily endure; care does not always mean preservation, and making can also involve change or loss. Through observation, repetition, and documentation, Fazayel attends to moments when the relationships between body, material, and environment shift. In these moments, the boundaries between presence and absence, remaining and disappearing, are continually unsettled.