Mariya

Maryam Esfahani is a Persian visual artist based in Ottawa, Canada. Born in 1997 in Tehran, Iran, she holds a Bachelor’s degree in Painting from the Tehran University of Art and a Master’s degree in Technology Innovation Management from Carleton University.…

Her artistic practice centers on mixed-media painting, where she works primarily with acrylic on canvas, wood, and reclaimed materials such as cardboard. Through layered textures and expressive surfaces, she develops compositions that balance control and spontaneity, allowing each piece to evolve organically. Her process embraces imperfection, materiality, and experimentation as essential elements of storytelling.

Maryam’s work explores themes of identity, resilience, and the feminine experience, often drawing from personal memory, cultural heritage, and emotional states that exist between silence and expression. She is particularly interested in translating what is felt but not always spoken — giving visual form to unheard voices and overlooked narratives.

Alongside her visual practice, she has over nine years of experience in ballet. This background subtly informs her artistic language, bringing a sensitivity to movement, rhythm, and gesture into her paintings, where still images carry a sense of flow and embodied emotion.

Through her work, Maryam seeks to create space for reflection, connection, and transformation. Her paintings invite viewers to pause and engage with layers of meaning — both personal and collective, while navigating themes of quiet strength, vulnerability, and renewal.

Artist statement: My work explores emotion, memory, and transformation through acrylic and mixed media painting. I create layered compositions that reflect both personal experiences and universal feelings of growth and renewal. I give visual form to unheard voices, translating what is often felt but not spoken.