Pegah Valizad
Canada
Painter | Founder of SAMA academy
Pegah.valizad@gmail.com
Pegah Valizad is a talented artist hailing from Tehran, Iran and currently residing in Canada, embarked on her professional journey in 1990. Throughout her career, she has explored various painting styles, showcasing her versatility. Pegah has organized numerous joint and solo exhibitions, both locally and internationally. In 2005, she founded the SAMA academy, where she has been dedicated to teaching and managing ever since.
Since March 2006, Pegah Validza embarked on a painting journey under the guidance of one of Iran's distinguished painting masters. Initially drawn to expressing beauty, particularly in landscape painting, she found immense joy in bringing forth the allure of her subjects. Immersed in the belief that painting beauty meant becoming a part of it, Pegah enjoyed widespread admiration for this vision.
Over time, a shift occurred in her perspective. Contemplating a move to explore different facets of beauty worldwide, she faced the challenges of leaving her homeland. This transformative decision brought forth a period of hardship, exposing her to life's highs and lows. The once-beautiful life lost its luster, and Pegah sensed a need to delve into the complexities of her surroundings.
No longer content with merely portraying beauty, Pegah felt compelled to address societal issues. From ignorance and lack of awareness to societal abnormalities and the heightened awareness of Eve and Adam, she channelled her observations into her artwork. Modern global protests fueled by ignorance and superstition became her subject matter.
In the wake of expressing her dissent through art, Pegah concluded that protest painting, though bitter, held a unique beauty of its own—an aesthetic akin to poison. Choosing the apple as her symbol, reminiscent of Adam and Eve's story, she symbolically embraced the struggle for super-awareness and the confrontation with a contrasting world. Through her art, she aimed to illuminate the disparities between reality and truth.
