Hanie Soltani
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
Hanie Soltani is a figurative painter in Tehran. She studied science first, then started over in painting. Soltani keeps several paintings going at once. The big ones take months, so she works on smaller pieces alongside them. She uses the bold, saturated colors of Iranian art, with the figures and composition of the Western tradition. She paints people, their rooms, their objects, their bodies, and most often a woman at the center. This year she won the audience prize at the VIMA Art Prize in Cyprus.
Q: First of all, we'd love to get to know you. How did you become the painter you are now?
A: I've loved drawing with colored pencils and making something with clay ever since I was a child. It was something I always wanted to do, which helped me to even communicate and spend time with my friends. But because of different circumstances and some opposition, I wasn't able to pursue it at first.
Instead, I studied a completely different field in the sciences for my bachelor's. After graduating, I realized that I didn't feel happy about that path and continuing it at all. So I made the decision to start over from scratch and take the risk of pursuing painting as both my profession and my life. Since I had this thought that I had lost so much time, I was incredibly motivated. I had a strong desire to dedicate myself fully to this passion.
Q: You keep several projects going at once. How does that rhythm work for you?
A: I usually work on several projects at the same time. My larger paintings are often connected through a common theme with one another, but because they take a long time to complete, I like to work on smaller works alongside them. These smaller paintings or drawings allow me to have the satisfaction of finishing something while I'm still in the middle of a long-term project. It helps me stay motivated and keeps my practice balanced. Instead of being immersed in just one painting for months, I can move between different scales and see tangible progress throughout the process.
Q: Where do Persian color and Western figuration meet in a single canvas?
A: My work combines influences from both Iranian and Western painting in some ways I guess. I enjoy using bold, saturated colors, but I try not to simply imitate what I see. Instead, I make intuitive color choices that reflect my own emotional response.
At the same time, my compositions, figurative language, and paint application are strongly influenced by Western painting. I'm interested in bringing these different influences together and finding a visual language that feels personal. Through each painting, I try to explore new possibilities while staying rooted in figurative painting at this period of my career.
Q: You paint people and the things they leave behind, their rooms, their objects, their bodies. How do you choose what makes it into a painting?
A: People are at the center of most of my paintings, although they rarely tell a fixed story. I'm often inspired by a person, an object, a place, or everyday life moments. I build compositions by combining figures, still-life elements, and objects in ways that create new relationships. I also try to avoid a single focal point.
Instead, I want the viewer's attention to move slowly across the entire painting, allowing the work to reveal itself gradually rather than all at once.
Q: So many of your paintings hold a woman at the center. Where does that focus come from?
A: I think it's because I naturally spend more time with my female friends, and I feel a stronger connection to their experiences and inner worlds. Their emotions, concerns, and perspectives are often closer to my own in many regards. In many ways, I see a reflection of myself in every female figure I paint.
Q: This year you won the audience prize at VIMA in Cyprus. What's ahead for the rest of the year?
A: I was very fortunate to receive the VIMA Art Prize this year, and it meant a great deal to me. Given the difficult circumstances in my country, it can be challenging to keep working and imagine the future. Awards and other forms of recognition are more than achievements, they're reminders that it's worth continuing.
Even in the darkest times, they give artists I guess hope, encouragement, and the confidence to keep believing in their work and in the possibility of a better future.
