Degree Show 2024: Meet the Graduates - Halleh Mortazavi

Introduce yourself and your work. What ideas and themes are important to you?

Born in Iran, a country rich in culture and traditions. I did my education in Electronics Engineering (BSc). I was always very interested in painting, and practicing it as a hobby alongside my education. I was fortunate to participate the art classes of Mr. Aydin Aghdashloo, where I got to know about the Western and Persian art. In 2000, I came to UK for further education, where later I earned my MPhil and PhD in Image Processing at The University of Manchester. In recent years I got more interested to know deeper about Persian Traditional art, specially the Safavid era.

What materials do you use? Why have you chosen to work with these materials?

During MA course, I was introduced with the natural pigments and also different binders, which is a world of mysteries to me. I currently use natural pigments for painting. Each pigment has its own characteristics, and this gives me a sense of connecting more to my painting. Among pigments, Lapis took my attention very much. It is a kind of pigment that would not give its beautiful colour away easily. You need to work hard, know the nature of the stone and also be very patient.

What drew you to the School, and what do you want to remember about these last two years?

In order to immerse myself in the world of traditional arts, I decided to join the KFSTA for the MA program. I had the chance to broaden my knowledge and experience in Persian art, as well as getting to know about other traditions. Looking at different traditions widens my horizon and perception. I would like to mention that I had a great journey during these two years. I learnt and experienced far more than I expected, in a friendly and supportive atmosphere. It was not only learning art, but exploring the faith and spirituality from another perspective.

Professionally, what are your hopes and goals?

I would like to focus on illuminating a series of poems, which are the opening chapter of the poem books, such as Shahnama, Golestan by Saadi,...etc, which express the meaning of 'In the Name of God'.

In addition to manuscript illumination, I would like to explore more in ceramic painting as well as painting with egg tempera. These two techniques attracted me very much.