Naime Pakniyat (Iranian, b. 1994) is a pixel artist and animator whose work fuses 8-bit pixel art with the imagery of Persian miniature painting, aiming to keep traditional motifs alive through a modern visual language.The Line, a digital art platform, has described Pakniyat's illustrations as feminine forms expressed with strength and grace.
Pakniyat holds a bachelor's degree in graphic design (2012-2017) and a master's degree in animation (2017-2020), both from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Tehran. Pakniyat's short animated film Gambit tells the story of a quiet village turned upside down by the death of a pigeon, and parts of it were later released as NFTs. The film's visual language draws first on Persian miniature painting, whose best-known examples date to the 13th and 14th centuries, and then on 8-bit video game art from the early internet. Gambit was selected for animation festivals including the Tehran International Animation Festival and CINANIMA in Portugal.
Pakniyat has released a long-running series of pixel-art animated Pepe the Frog loops on the platform Foundation.,Other series have carried the pixel style abroad, including Magic of Shibuya, inspired by Tokyo's mix of neon streets and old-world custom, and Forbidden city.
Pakniyat has produced commissioned work for brands and platforms, including a piece called Pengu Fountain for Wrapped Penguins and a piece called Ether Queen for the Bored Ape Ladies Collective.For the Iranian New Year in 2024, Pakniyat made a Persian-miniature-inspired piece for the platform Darz, depicting the traditional Haft-sin table.
Pakniyat's work has been shown at Art Dubai as part of the Morrow Collective in 2023, and at NFT NYC's Fine Art Gallery the same year.
