Sanaz Mazinani facts for kids

Sanaz Mazinani (born 1978) is an artist from Iran and Canada. She creates many types of art, including photography and installation art. She is also a curator, which means she helps organize art shows. Sanaz Mazinani teaches art too. Today, she lives and works in Toronto, Canada.

Sanaz Mazinani's Life and Art

Early Life and Education

Sanaz Mazinani was born in Tehran, Iran in 1978. This was just one year before the Iranian Revolution. When she was 11 years old, she moved to Canada.

In Canada, Mazinani studied art at the Ontario College of Art and Design. This school is now called OCAD University. She finished her studies there in 2003. Later, in 2009, she moved to the United States. She earned her Master of Fine Arts degree from Stanford University in 2011.

How Sanaz Mazinani Creates Art

Sanaz Mazinani's art often explores how we see and understand images. She is interested in how pictures are made. She also looks at how media shapes our view of the world.

One of her early works, A Study in the Vertical (2002–2003), shows her interest in photography. For this project, she made abstract images without using a camera. She exposed photographic paper to light in a darkroom. The results were unique, abstract pictures.

Mazinani often uses existing photos, like those from archives or found online. She changes these images digitally. The finished artworks sometimes look like patterns from Islamic art. But if you look closely, you see they are made of many different pictures.

Art About Conflict and Media

Mazinani's art often makes us think about war and how we learn about conflicts. She uses images from different sources to create new meanings. For example, in Frames of the Visible (2011–2013), she used images found online.

These works combine pictures from opposing sides of a conflict. This makes us question how we understand war. It also makes us think about how information spreads. For instance, one piece might look like an aircraft or an Islamic design from far away. Up close, you see it's two mirrored images. One might be a propaganda photo of an armed woman. The other could be a U.S. military pilot with a fighter jet.

Mazinani wants us to look at photos differently. She challenges us to think about the messages behind them. Her art helps us understand how images are used in the world.

Art Shows and Public Art

Exhibitions Around the World

Sanaz Mazinani's art has been shown in many places. These include North America, Europe, and Asia. Some of her recent solo shows include From Elsewhere to Here (2024) and An Impossible Perspective (2023).

Her work has also been part of important group shows. These include Light: Visionary Perspectives at the Aga Khan Museum (2024-2025). Another was We Are Story: The Canada Now Photography Acquisition at the Art Gallery of Ontario (2023).

Art for Everyone: Public Art Projects

Mazinani has created many artworks for public spaces. These are art pieces that people can see and interact with in cities.

• Dastgāh (2024) is a sound sculpture she made with her brother, Mani Mazinani. People can walk into it and play sounds.
• Rolling Reflection (2020) is a set of 20 steel sculptures. They reflect the unique colors of the sky and the landscape.
• U.S.A.I.R.A.N (2014) covered windows of an empty building with digital art.
• Celebrating Bay Area Activism (2013) put photo-collages in bus stops in San Francisco.

Awards and Recognition

Sanaz Mazinani has received many awards and grants for her art. These include support from the Canada Council for the Arts. She also got funding from the Ontario Arts Council and the Toronto Arts Council.

Her project Dastgāh won an award from the Toronto Friends of the Visual Arts (2024). She also received the Best Public Art Project award from Americans for the Arts in 2014. Other awards include a fellowship from the Kala Art Institute.

Sanaz Mazinani as a Curator

Sanaz Mazinani also organizes art exhibitions. She curated several shows for the Tirgan Festival in Toronto. These included Made in China and Hope Echoed in 2013.

One important show she curated was The Third Space (2013). This exhibition featured six Iranian artists. It explored how people create new identities when they live far from their home country. This show was very well received.

She also co-curated New Constellations: Contemporary Iranian Video Art (2012).

See also

• List of Iranian women artists
• Iranian Modern and Contemporary Art
• List of Canadian Artists
• List of Iranian artists