Parvin Pooya

Parvin Pooya is an artist born and raised in Iran, now living and working in New York.

Her work explores themes of immigration, identity, belonging, and Iranian culture and politics. It is informed by her experiences in both Iran and the United States, as well as by her interest in theater and storytelling. Like a master weaver, she intertwines traditional influences with contemporary experimentation, demonstrating a sophisticated command of diverse media. She draws on the cultural associations of different artistic forms in ways that reinforce the thematic concerns of her work. Many of her paintings are inspired by Persian poetry, illustrating Elaine Sciolino's observation that poetry for Iranians is a powerful religion. 

Her academic journey began in her home country, at the University of Art in Tehran, where she earned an MA in Drama in 2000. Her dissertation was published as a book titled Beyzai's Grammar, about the Iranian playwright Bahram Beyzai’s plays, which she analyzed linguistically, and applied the theories of Roman Jakobson and Tzvetan Todorov. Her dissertation received praise from Beyzai himself and was honored with Iran’s 8th-cycle "Student of the Year" award for the field of art in 2001.

She further pursued her studies in the United States, earning an MA in American Studies/Art and Museum at Trinity College in Hartford in 2014. Her drive to engage deeply with American culture and history — embarking on an intellectual project to frame her American experience through the lens of Iran’s artistic and cultural styles — led her to open the Tea Haunt Canvas gallery, which she operated from 2011 to 2017, and served as a unique oasis for art and culture in Downtown Hartford, Connecticut. In 2017, she completed her third MA in Humanities and Social Thought/The Art World at New York University.