Sheida Soleimani

Sheida Soleimani was born in 1990 in Indianapolis, Indiana[6] and she grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio.[7] Her parents are political refugees who were persecuted by the Iranian government in the early 1980s during the Iranian Revolution.[8] Soleimani has mentioned her personal experience as an Iranian growing up in America, which made her aware of the "stereotypes of Middle Eastern culture by the West" at a young age.[9][10]

Soleimani received her BFA degree in photography from the University of Cincinnati in 2012.[11][12] She continued her studies and received a MFA degree in Photography from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2015.[13]

Soleimani's work highlights the relationships between powerful political people, groups, governments, and corporations, in order to raise questions from the viewer.[9][10] The themes of her work are disturbing topics not often discussed in the West, for example, highlighting the women executed in Iran,[10] and the relationship between power, exploitation and oil,[14] among others. The work is often displayed as a photograph or video of a staged image, Soleimani uses various materials in the work including, soft sculpture "dolls", photography, props, masks, and cut-outs of digital prints.[15]

Her work has gained international recognitions in exhibitions[16] and on publications such as Artforum,[17] The New York Times,[18] The Huffington Post,[19] Interview (magazine),[20] Vice (magazine) etc.[21] Soleimani has presented multiple series of works, namely Medium of Exchange (2018-current),[22][23] To Oblivion (2016), and National Anthem (2015).[3]

Soleimani is currently an Assistant Professor of Studio Art at Brandeis University.[24][13] She previously taught at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).[25]

• Official website