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Bahar Talebi Najafabadi is a visual artist from Isfahan, Iran, currently based in London. Working with oil paint, charcoal, and chalk, she creates emotionally charged works that explore the complexity of womanhood, identity, and resilience. Her artistic practice is deeply intuitive — guided by mood, memory, and the desire to communicate feeling through colour and form.
Bahar’s paintings often center on women: their strength, vulnerability, and the quiet endurance required to exist within patriarchal structures. Inspired by the stories of women from her homeland and across the Middle East, she transforms their lived experiences into visual narratives of empathy and resistance. Drawing on her Persian heritage and familial influences, including her mother and aunt’s traditional rug designs, Bahar weaves personal and cultural memory together into layered compositions that invite reflection and emotional connection.
Dead Sparrow At DFS
Oil Painting
In Autumn’s Archway, Bahar Talebi Najafabadi captures a moment of quiet transition — a passage between warmth and stillness, colour and silence. The painting’s luminous gradient, moving from deep forest greens to radiant gold, reflects her ongoing exploration of emotion and belonging. Her distinctive painterly style strongly conveys a sense of tenderness toward nature and an introspective attitude toward change — transforming landscape into an emotional language of resilience and renewal.
The Red Weight
Oil Painting
In The Red Weight, Bahar Talebi Najafabadi distills emotion into striking simplicity. A lone bird, delicately poised against a vast red background, becomes a metaphor for isolation, endurance, and silent strength. The visual contrast — a fragile figure suspended within a field of intensity — evokes both tension and calm. Within the context of Echoes of Her, this work powerfully expresses the artist’s contemplation of womanhood under pressure: the quiet resilience of standing alone while carrying the invisible weight of expectation.
In Paradise Rising, Bahar Talebi Najafabadi celebrates growth, renewal, and the quiet confidence of nature. The upward rhythm of the bird-of-paradise flowers conveys a sense of resilience and ascension — a visual metaphor for feminine strength and hope. Against the clear blue background, the vivid interplay of orange, green, and blue radiates optimism, transforming stillness into movement. Within the context of Echoes of Her, this work reflects the artist’s enduring belief in rebirth — that from constraint and silence, beauty continues to rise.
Oil Painting
Paradise Rising
Carpet of Poppies
Oil Painting
In Carpet of Poppies, Bahar Talebi Najafabadi transforms a field of flowers into a meditation on beauty, memory, and collective emotion. The vibrant reds against the serene blue sky evoke both joy and remembrance — a landscape alive yet reflective. Her use of impasto brushwork gives each poppy a tactile presence, suggesting individuality within unity. Within the context of Echoes of Her, this work resonates as a symbol of feminine endurance and shared history — a vivid reminder that even in vastness, every voice blooms.
Halo Ascent
Oil Painting
In Halo Ascent, Bahar Talebi Najafabadi captures a moment of transcendence — a solitary bird ascending through a soft halo of light. The delicate gradient of pink and blue evokes serenity and release, suggesting the movement from weight to freedom, from earth to spirit. The centered composition draws the viewer into a meditative stillness, where elevation becomes both physical and emotional. Within the context of Echoes of Her, this work embodies the artist’s vision of inner liberation — the quiet rise of feminine spirit beyond constraint.
Bahar Talebi Najafabadi is a visual artist from Isfahan, Iran, now based in London since 2023. She uses different methods to create her artwork, including charcoal, chalk, and oil painting.
Bahar's artistic practice is defined by exploration; she embraces a diverse approach to express her emotions through oil paint. Her work reflects the transmission of human feeling, using colour, style, and pattern as essential means of communication with viewers. Currently, Bahar focuses on the possibilities of artistic communication, investigating how art is interpreted and the factors that influence this process. Through her evolving body of work, she seeks to create authentic and impactful encounters that resonate universally.
More About Bahar Talebi Najafabadi
Painting, for me, is a deeply emotional and sensory dialogue—an ongoing exploration of how the combination of colors on canvas can evoke nuanced feelings, both in myself and in those who experience my work. Each brushstroke is guided by my current mood and thoughts, and I am captivated by the possibility of transmitting the same resonance to viewers, inviting them to feel what I feel in the moment of creation.
Presently, my art is centered on the theme of women—their identities, strengths, and the burdens they carry while navigating and overcoming a sexist society. Through images inspired by women in my life, I seek to portray resilience, complexity, and the transformative power of feminine spirit. My process is tactile and intentional: I favor soft brushes for their ability to create smooth, controlled edges, and painting knives for expressive texture. A disposable paper palette gives me the freedom to blend and layer colors generously, allowing paint to leave meaningful traces on the canvas.
Questions from viewers are a constant in my exhibitions; I welcome their interpretations rather than provide a definitive answer, finding fascination in the similarities and differences between their perspectives and my intended meaning. This exchange of meaning—where my vision meets their perception—is central to my practice.
Recently, my focus has shifted towards expressing the suffering and resilience of women from my home country and the wider Middle East. The stories of female artists there, often condemned or dismissed, have deeply shaped my outlook, as has the personal experience of growing older and reflecting on my identity as a woman and an artist. My mother and aunt, with her moving Persian rug designs, are lasting inspirations, reminding me of the emotional power and heritage embedded in every creative act.
My painting is an ongoing journey that probes the boundaries of empathy, memory, and collective female experience—an invitation for dialogue and contemplation as much as a reflection of my lived realities.
—— Bahar Talebi Najafabadi