Mohana Malek Shahian

Minerva, born on May 23, 2000, in Kermanshah, Iran, is a self-taught artist who creates a dreamlike connection with her inner world through the exploration of emotions and beauty. Her artworks reflect her inner states and emotional experiences, where lines and forms transform into a language of feeling, offering solace for unspoken pains.


Minerva primarily focuses on oil painting. Her paintings are expressive in nature and follow a surreal style. She believes painting should be completely free, unbound by fear of color or line—tools she sees as instruments of liberation.

Her paintings are particularly inspired by female figures with distressed faces, haunting, captivating eyes, and without lips—faces that convey the weight of hidden emotions through their gaze. She is drawn to colors that directly express her inner moods such as anxiety, melancholy, fear, and unrest.

Hands are a recurring symbol in her work, representing both beauty and expressive power. For Minerva, the act of creating is deeply therapeutic; every emotion, event, or thought that causes unrest is poured onto the canvas, leading her to inner release with each completed piece. Every painting, in her view, is a portrait of herself.


In addition to painting, Miner...

Although Minerva’s academic and professional background is not in the arts, her inner passion naturally guided her to painting. She has been practicing painting independently for over six years. She also holds an international certificate in fashion design, working in both hand-drawn and digital formats.

Spring 2024: Participation in the Pars Forte International Exhibition, October 18–22, 2024, at Area Contesa Arte Gallery, Rome, Italy.