Mahsa Dehghan

You began with graphic design, oil painting, and animation. How have these early experiences shaped your current visual language?

Starting out with graphic design, oil painting, and animation gave me a really broad visual foundation. Graphic design trained my eye for composition, typography, and clear communication, while oil painting taught me patience, depth, and an appreciation for texture and color. Animation pushed me to think about storytelling and movement—how visuals can guide emotion over time. Together, these experiences shaped a visual language that’s both expressive and purposeful: I aim for designs that are visually striking but also deeply communicative, with a painterly sensitivity to color and texture and a motion designer’s sense of flow. It’s a mix of fine art intuition and design strategy that I carry into every project today.

Mahsa Dehghan | The Bird Will Carry Me

How does your Iranian heritage continue to inform your work today, even as you live and create in the United States?

My Iranian heritage is an endless source of inspiration for me. Growing up surrounded by such a rich visual and cultural history—Persian calligraphy, intricate tile work, vibrant textiles, and centuries of storytelling—taught me to see beauty in detail and meaning in pattern. Even now, living and creating in the United States, those influences naturally surface in my work: the bold use of color, the layering of textures, and the emphasis on narrative all trace back to that heritage. It gave me a deep respect for craftsmanship and symbolism, which I now weave into contemporary design and motion graphics, creating a dialogue between tradition and modernity.

Mahsa Dehghan | Circle Of Existence

The circle as a symbol has many meanings in different cultures. How do you interpret it in your own art?

In my work, especially the collection Circle of Existence, the circle is a symbol of life’s cyclical nature rather than a straight, predictable path. To me, it represents how we move through repeating stages: birth, growth, joy, suffering, loss, freedom, and restraint that are all interconnected. Endings aren’t final; they’re simply transitions into new beginnings.

The circle also speaks to the uniqueness of each person’s journey. We might see someone radiating joy while they quietly carry unseen struggles, or witness hardship that hides remarkable strength. The circle holds these contradictions at once: passion and despair, hope and fear, creation and collapse.

Recognizing this circle means accepting life’s rhythm: everything transforms, nothing is permanent, and no single moment or experience reveals the whole of who we are. It’s a reminder of humility and empathy, that behind every face is a story we can’t fully know.

Mahsa Dehghan | Circle Of Existence

You have a strong career in professional graphic design. How does that experience influence your fine art practice?

My professional graphic design experience shapes my fine art practice in a big way. Design has taught me composition, balance, and how to communicate visually with intention. The discipline and problem-solving skills I developed working on client projects now help me approach my fine art with clarity and purpose.

Right now, I have three exhibitions running: Falling for the Ozarks at the Springfield Art Council, where I’m showing The Bird Will Carry Me; RED, featuring my collection The Circle of Existence; and the Wet Paint exhibition with Colors of Humanity Art Gallery, showcasing my Untrimmed series. These projects let me explore deeper emotional themes and storytelling without the boundaries of commercial work.

For me, design and fine art constantly feed each other, design gives my art structure, while my art brings emotion and experimentation back into my design work.