This presentation explores how artistic practice can respond to lived experiences of political and social instability. As an Iranian painter and illustrator, my work emerges from a lived experience shaped by political instability, social surveillance, and a profound erosion of trust between the people and the governing structures in Iran. Through a multidisciplinary practice that includes painting, illustration, and sculpture, I construct visual narratives that explore the fragility of safety and the collapse of public faith in dominant institutions.
In these works, I use symbolic imagery, fractured compositions, and disrupted visual rhythms to express the psychological effects of instability—not as abstract concepts, but as tangible realities deeply embedded in everyday life, both public and private. In this context, instability is not merely a political crisis; it is a deeply personal experience—marked by hesitation in speech, fear of being watched, and the sudden flare of repression that follows every wave of protest.
A central theme in my work is the role of Islam in sustaining this instability. Religion in the Iranian context functions as a powerful tool for moral control, social regulation, and the suppression of individuality. These dynamics contribute significantly to psychological and social unrest. In my paintings, such tensions are visualized through metaphorical figures, obscured or vanished faces, and atmospheres charged with a sense of spiritual disarray.
Some of my pieces explicitly address religious mandates, such as compulsory hijab and ritual practices that exert control over women’s bodies and identities. These elements serve as symbols of how religion infiltrates everyday life—creating a climate of surveillance, fear, and disorientation. I depict these rituals in fragmented, faded, or transformed forms, reflecting their intrusive presence and the ways in which they distort personal and collective identity.
In this presentation, I aim to reveal how instability hides within the very fabric of my visual language. The absence of security and certainty has reshaped the way I see, construct, and even deconstruct images. In an environment defined by censorship and suppression, art becomes a space for resistance—sometimes overt, sometimes concealed within the layers of the image.
My participation in Unstable Systems is an invitation to hear an artistic voice from within a society where instability is not an exception but a condition of daily life. I hope this work can contribute to a deeper conversation about vulnerability, resilience, and the possibilities of living through—and within—instability.
Marzieh Amiri
Visual artist and illustrator
Marzieh Amiri is a visual artist and illustrator based in Reykjavík. She holds an MFA in Fine Art from The Iceland University of the Arts.
Her artistic practice focuses primarily on the lived experiences of women in Iran under the control of Islamic ideology. Through painting and visual storytelling, she explores themes of power, restriction, identity, and resistance—often drawing from her personal experiences and the collective memory of Iranian society. Her work investigates how faith, gender, and state authority intersect to shape instability in both private and public life
