Leila Seyedzadeh’s work uses a visual poetic language that focuses on indirect reference and landscapes immersed in a sense of placelessness. Influenced by Persian miniatures, her much larger textile works are richly detailed using multiple visual elements that hint at mountainous forms and integrate non-western compositional techniques, relying on a layering of patterned shapes, rather than a depth of vision to convey mass and space.

Leila Seyedzadeh assembles these materials into the appearance of landscapes, carefully arranging the various patterns into a collage-like composition before sewing everything in. This hand work is vital to her process and helps unite her work in New York with the artisans of the original fabrics. A long tradition of Iranian art relies on visual metaphors over direct representation to depict meaning, and her work carries within it deep memories of a rich and vibrant culture that sustains her, even as her career as an artist has taken her far from home. Her paintings hold a poetic longing for a more understanding and nuanced world.

Leila Seyedzadeh received her MFA from Yale University of Art in 2019 and is currently teaching art at the Pratt Institute in New York City.