Nina Ghanbarzadeh
Artist in Residence
Nina Ghanbarzadeh was born and raised in Tehran,Iran. She spent four years in India from 1984 to 1988, where she got her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Pune University. After returning to Iran in 1989, she realized that her passion was not in chemistry. She started taking art classes and painted for ten years. During this time she did several freelance translations and tutored children at elementary schools. Upon immigrating to the United States, she returned to school in 2005 and received her BFA in Fine Arts and Graphic Design from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2013.
Nina Ghanbarzadeh’s paintings are depictions of her culture and background. She is not only trying to portrait the unfamiliar subjects from Iran to Western viewers, but keeping her memories alive and fresh at the same time. Bits and pieces from historical sites to advertisements, Farsi script, tile and rug patterns are present in her work. Sometimes she juxtaposes subjects that do not belong to the same time period in the history of Iran. She would like for the viewer to think about how these elements could have any connection to each other. Her works are representational but she would like to bring more abstraction to the traditional Persian patterns and designs.
She currently lives and works in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with her husband and daughter.
www.ninaghanbarzadeh.com
