Soheila Sokhanvari
Sokhanvari (b.1964) is an artist whose practice explores memory, identity and cultural displacement through painting, drawing and installation. Trained initially in biochemistry before turning to fine art, Sokhanvari employs the traditional technique of egg tempera on calf vellum, painstakingly grinding her own pigments to create works that evoke the precision of illuminated manuscripts. Drawing on magic realism, symbolism and allegory, her work addresses political and social histories through metaphor, resisting fixed or authoritarian narratives.
For the exhibition, Sokhanvari presents five intimate portraits painted on vellum- her father Ali-Mohammad Sokhanvari, Iranian actresses Zhaleh Olov, Zari Khoshkam and Farzaneh Taidi, and the last Empress of Iran, Farah Pahlavi. They are drawn from family and promotional photographs but in dialogue with western manuscript illumination and Persian miniature painting and displayed against a backdrop that echoes their luminous surfaces. Together, the works explore portraiture as a site of memory, resilience and cultural identity.
In 2018 Sokhanvari won the Derek Hill Foundation Scholarship at the British School at Rome and her installation Leave to Remain, comprising 35 expired passports stamped by the artist, is currently on view at Tate Britain (2025–27). Her work is held in the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Victoria and the Saatchi Gallery Collection. She is represented by Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London and Berlin.