Sedigheh Saleki

Iranian-Canadian Visual Artist | Toronto

Sedigheh Saleki is an Iranian-Canadian painter whose artistic practice moves between the traditions of Iranian miniature painting and contemporary abstraction. Born and raised in southern Iran, she began her artistic journey through years of studying Iranian miniature, developing a deep understanding of its intricate details, delicate compositions, and visual storytelling.

Her artistic direction evolved during her studies at the Kamal-ol-Molk Art School in Tehran, where she was introduced to Western classical painting and modern artistic approaches. Gradually, she moved beyond the formal boundaries of traditional painting, developing a personal visual language in which the precision of her early training meets the freedom and experimentation of contemporary art.

Having lived through war, political upheaval, and migration, Saleki's relationship with painting has been shaped by experiences of displacement, resilience, and transformation. After settling permanently in Toronto, she found the space to explore these experiences through a more introspective and experimental practice. Her paintings frequently examine the strength of women, the complexities of cultural identity, and the emotional landscapes of those who have experienced migration.

Nature has also become an important presence in her work. Inspired by her travels to Cuba and the Dominican Republic, her recent paintings explore the textures, formations, and imagined histories of stones. Within these abstract landscapes, geological forms begin to resemble human faces, carrying traces of memory, endurance, and time. The relationship between the human body and the natural world becomes a recurring metaphor for survival and transformation.

Across other bodies of work, Saleki explores the emotional contradictions of migration: belonging and isolation, memory and distance, the preservation of identity and the experience of change. Women often emerge as central figures in these compositions, embodying both individual histories and collective experiences of resistance and perseverance.

Working primarily with acrylic, ink, and mixed media, Saleki creates paintings that move between abstraction and representation. Her work has been exhibited in Tehran, including at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, as well as in galleries and group exhibitions in Toronto.

Although her practice has evolved considerably, the influence of Iranian miniature remains embedded in her work, not as a direct continuation of tradition, but as an underlying visual sensibility. Through the intersection of personal memory, cultural history, and contemporary experimentation, Saleki has developed an artistic language that reflects both the places she has inhabited and the experiences that continue to shape her understanding of the world.