Mahsa Karimi is an Iranian visual artist. She has been passionate about art ever since she was a little girl. Her mother is a housewife, and her father is a doctor. She is the youngest child and has an elder brother who is six years older than her and an elder sister who is two years older. Her sister is specially-abled and suffers from mental trauma. Mahsa was always worried about her sister throughout her childhood. Her sister’s health created a huge emotional impact on her mind, reflecting her painting style.
Mahsa Karimi – Iranian visual artist
Mahsa developed a passion for painting as early as when she was three years old. She was a shy and silent girl during her childhood. The only thing that made her forget all her worries and inhibitions was painting. She wasn’t a great student at school. When her teachers called out to her in the middle of the class, she would not know what they were teaching. When the teachers tried to find a reason, they found that she was entirely engaged and focused on painting in the middle of their class.
Her family immigrated to Hungary from Iran when she was just four years old. She was thrilled to be moving to a new country and didn’t face any cultural shock or adjustment issues. She completed her primary schooling in Hungary. The painting was always her passion, and it always had a soothing effect on her. Whenever she felt uneasiness, she used to paint. She remembers an incident from her childhood that displays her craze for painting.
Next to her father’s clinic, there was an Art School. She was very fond of that art school because it looked attractive and cozy. She wanted to get admission to that art School. One fine day, she went to the art school, asking the secretary for admission. She was only in the second grade at that time!
Gazing at a very young child asking for admission, the secretary was quite shocked. The secretary smiled and asked her who her parents were. After realizing that her father’s clinic was next door, she asked her to go back and bring her parents along with her for admission purposes. At that time, little Mahsa realized that she alone could not take any action for admission. So, she went back to her father and convinced him patiently for admission to the art school. She succeeded in doing so. In this manner, she got admission to her very first art school.
Around that time, her mother started getting increasingly homesick and decided to go back to Iran. But her father insisted on staying in Hungary. Eventually, all three children went back to Iran with their mother. They started facing too many monetary challenges there. Mahsa missed her father and was living in separation from her father for about four years. She didn’t have an ideal relationship with her mother. It made her a shy person, and that started reflecting on her behavior and academics. It had an impact on her personality too.
When she was almost 11 years old, her family immigrated to Tehran. After her schooling, she went to a University in Tehran to study graphic designing for an Associate’s degree. It is because her father didn’t allow her to continue studying pure art. He asked her to get involved in practical art such as graphic designing. Thus, she shifted her interest to study graphic design. She learned the art and graphic design at an art school in Tehran.
And since she was crazy about painting, she joined additional art classes with professional artists. Not only this, she learned painting under the guidance of some Romanian artists too. While painting, she realized that she was not as passionate about graphic designing. It was painting or pure art that she had taken a liking to.
Soon after this realization, she became a part of Azad Art Gallery in 2012 as a solo participant in an exhibition. Azad Art Gallery was one of the finest exhibition centers in Tehran at that time. After the participation, she felt extremely satisfied as she sold all her artworks successfully at the exhibition.
Her father was not in her favor of choosing painting as a profession. He believed that one needs to do something like engineering, which can fetch money to sustain life, and painting was not that. He was not entirely against painting, but he believed that painting was great only as a hobby, not as a profession. This thought of her father often distressed her. Still, Mahsa kept her efforts constant to sustain painting as a profession and fight back against Iranian people’s this very mindset.
Being a painter was not that easy for her. When she started her career as a full-fledged painting artist, she had a very tough divorce. It broke her down from deep inside. She was looking at ways to come out of it.
One day while looking at her marriage pictures, she saw the expressions and the happy faces people had. She realized that all that happiness in the photos was false and momentary. She gave it a deep thought, and it moved her. She selected it as a theme for her art. This topic became her first professional art series and her best one at that. Some other themes of her paintings include many political issues occurring there in Iran. She sold her artwork to foreign countries.
Many challenges saw her in the face. In Iran, economic problems are part and parcel of every profession. She, as an artist, had to overcome serious financial challenges, which she was already aware of through her father. To fight back this challenge, she started teaching the English language and selling the paintings she made. Doing both these tasks simultaneously fetched her money to sustain her livelihood.
Another challenge was the typical Iranian mentality that restricted the freedom of Iranian women and their aspirations. She has also faced a cultural problem throughout her life. The leaders and government are strict and have a narrow mindset. Women aren’t allowed to paint or pursue the choice of their profession. Nude paintings aren’t allowed, and women artists are looked down upon.
Fighting against these odds helped her succeed and emerge as a successful painter with many inspirational themes under her name. Throughout her journey, her primary motivation has been her sister. Art was a way to share her experiences, the dark side of her thoughts, and the challenges she has faced. Her father changed his mind when he saw her dedication and is now a fan and encourages her.
As an artist, it becomes challenging if you cannot give it full time. Therefore, after a while, she started selling her artwork and gave up teaching to earn money for her livelihood. She traveled for several solo and group exhibitions in the US, Italy, and France. She is yearning to achieve more with her art.
At present, she is into painting full time. It has been four years that she has been into sculpting as well. At her last solo show, she exhibited her sculptures and portraits of great diversity. She is now working on a new collection about Iran’s social and political problems, and she loves what she is doing.
She loves to empower other people, especially emerging artists. Often, she comes across several artists who are incredibly talented but are discouraged and at a loss of hope. She encourages them and also gives them suggestions that can help them move ahead in their field.
Some words of motivation she has for all artists are:
“Keep going, don’t give up, and one day, you will be successful.”
“Keep sketching every day.”
“You should be patient and practice for many years to achieve success.”
She wishes to inspire many more people and reach a wider audience through her story of achieving her dream. Her ambition is to become an internationally acclaimed, renowned artist, and she is sure that someday she will.
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