Ayda Roozbayani
23.5″ x 31.5″ oil on canvas $3000
Born in the borderland city of Zahedan, Iran, Ayda Roozbayani grew up in close proximity to the striking landscapes of Chabahar and the industrial oil hubs of the south. Living along these geographic and cultural thresholds profoundly shaped her artistic lens from an early age. She observed firsthand the quiet tension between human vulnerability and massive industrial developments, where local workers and figures maneuver through harsh border realities to survive. Roozbayani carried these lived experiences through her formal academic training at Alzahra University in Tehran, earning her BA in Painting in 2018 and establishing herself as a compelling figurative painter dedicated to exploring human solitude.
Her body of work seamlessly blends classical realism with a cinematic, dreamlike atmosphere. Utilizing layered oils, acrylics, and collage, Roozbayani builds her compositions from photographs of real locations, from the rocky coastlines of southern Iran to the lush topographies of Lorestan which she gently dissolves into surreal, timeless environments. Water acts as a central motif across her canvases, serving not merely as a decorative landscape element, but as a silent border separating her figures from one another and from the world around them. Her paintings capture contemporary subjects in states of emotional disconnection; individuals lounge side by side on ancient rocks yet remain absorbed in their smartphones or lost in silent contemplation.
In recent years, Roozbayani’s practice has gained significant momentum on the international stage. Following her inclusion in the KHOR Art Initiative in 2022, she made her global debut at Untitled Art Miami Beach in 2024, followed by acclaimed solo exhibitions such as Edges (Karanehha). Working from her studio in Iran amid continuous regional uncertainty, her art offers a profound, unhurried meditation on how individuals adapt to instability. Rather than dramatizing crisis, her understated compositions capture the quiet beauty of human endurance, transforming the feeling of living on the margins into a universal story of modern life.