Helia Pouyanfar (she/her/hers) is an interdisciplinary artist whose work investigates the permanently transient state of the refugee body and its negotiation and reconciliation with Place. Her sculptural and photographic work manipulates and contorts architectural objects in an attempt to recontextualize architecture as the poetry of the nomad, narrating the idea of passage and the relationship between liminal spaces and transit.
Pouyanfar has received her B.A. in Art Practice from the University of California, Berkeley and her MFA in Studio Art from the University of California, Davis. She has been the recipient of the Lauren Krikorian Memorial Prize and Certificate of Excellence in Sculpture from UC Berkeley, Mary Lou Osborn Award and the 2021 Margrit Mondavi Graduate Fellowship from UC Davis, 2024 Berkeley Civic Arts Individual Artist Grant, and 2024 Kala Art Institute Fellowship.
Her work has been exhibited at the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, Miami University, Foyer-LA, Root Division, Southern Exposure, Berkeley Art Center, Kala Art Gallery, Richmond Art Center, and SF Camerawork.
Residency: June 2025 - September 2025
Art Exhibition: Friday, September 12 & Saturday, September 13 & Tuesday, September 16