Neda Tavallaee (Iranian, b. 1973) is a painter, poet, and alternative print-maker who also works with NFTs. She spent her formative years in England before returning to Iran after the revolution, amid the Iran-Iraq war. Her work draws on Persian poetry, music, and miniature painting, and addresses her experience as an Iranian woman navigating a culture marked by religious taboo.
The move between England and post-revolutionary Iran, and its cultural and religious disparities, profoundly shaped her perception of life both as a child and as a woman in the Middle East. Given the weight of religion and taboo in her culture, she began by internalizing her experiences before finding ways to express them through her art. She completed a B.F.A. at the Art University of Tehran in 2000. Global residencies, including a Mercedes-Benz-funded residency at Art Eye Gallery in Johannesburg in 2018, exposed her to different cultures that she has folded into her work. She is based in the Alborz province, away from Tehran.
