Artist Talk: Michelle Emami

Mexican/Iranian artist Michelle Emami uses her artwork as a space to celebrate her mixed heritage. In Both, Neither and All of the Above, Emami explores both her Iranian and Mexican heritages through motifs and cultural symbols drawn from both cultures. Her work also confronts the negativity and profound prejudices she has experienced within her communities. She reflects on instances where she felt neither Mexican nor Iranian, and sometimes not even American. Yet with each work that explores different aspects of her identity, Emami asserts that she is not just one race or another, nor is she simply the sum of her parents’ cultures: she is unapologetically all of the above.

Join Michelle Emami and Vision Gallery curator Jillian Nakornthap for this virtual artist talk to hear Emami discuss her work.