About the artist
Born in Tehran, Iran in 1998, Melika is a UAE based artist who has grown up in Dubai. Melika, known better as Melzarts, is a multidisciplinary artist, whose body of work includes drawings, paintings, sculptures, photography, video, and animation. She has a bachelor of arts in Art and Art History from NYU, where she also studied Film and Animation, at the Tisch School of the Arts.
Her work takes inspiration from her Persian background, as well as her own life and experiences. Many of her more recent works were created or inspired by her time living and studying in New York City, Paris, and Abu Dhabi, which were significantly impactful. Her interest in and upbringing with Persian poetry can be seen as influences for her interest in spiritual poetics, the human portrait, figure, as well as her fascination with changes in perception, and distorted realities.
Melika has exhibited her work at several group exhibitions, including at New York University Abu Dhabi project space, Sikka Art Fair 2023 organized by Dubai Culture, Noon Art Award shortlisted artists’ exhibition, where her painting titled Grey won the award in the painting category, and most recently at Firetti Gallery in Alserkal Avenue, as part of the NBF Art Prize shortlisted artists exhibition. Her animation short titled ‘The Lockdown’ was also chosen as the opening film at the annual Tisch animation film festival in New York, in 2022, and her installation has been chosen to be part of the Ras Al Khaimah Fine Arts Festival in 2025.
Melika has also been featured in major national and international publications, including Gulf News, Al Bayan, Broadway On Demand, Magzoid, Khamsah, and The National, alongside others.
“I am inspired everyday by the strength, passion, beauty, and impact of women, therefore women often hold a strong presence in my work. I am intrigued by how our perception can change, based on feelings of (or lack of) belonging, therefore I explore the impact of our presence in different environments, and in connection with different groups of people. I hope my art inspires you to see the good, the beauty, the kindness, the magic, and the wonder in the world. I hope it inspires you to embrace life and all that it brings, and perhaps, reflect on what has shaped your perspective.”
-Melzarts
“.چشمهارا باید شست. جوره دیگر باید دید”
“We must wash our eyes. we must see in a new way”
- Sohrab Sepehri, Persian Poet And Painter
My work is not about making an outrageous statement, rather it is about making sense of the world. It is about observing, feeling things deeply, being present in our experiences and surroundings, and reflecting on our changed perceptions. Reflecting on our relationship with ordinary objects, the people and environment around us, and with spirituality, I explore the ways in which we are impacted, and our understanding altered.
In hindsight, everything is just a thing until you give meaning to it, isn't it? But what is the point of it all if we don’t? My work explores nostalgia and embraces giving meaning to moments and objects.
My recent triptych, Blanket, might be seen as simply paintings of fabric, however each of the three wooden panels are painted with a section of the fabric in one of the three primary colors; blue, yellow, red. All flowing together, connected, yet each provoking a very different, and intense emotion.
To me, this painting reflects the months in lockdown in an unfamiliar city, of how a blanket traveled with me from city to city, as a source of comfort. I think of classes from my bed, I think of curling under the blanket while a pandemic took over. I think of all the emotions I experienced with that blanket. The same blanket I sit on as I write this.
Vibrant colors are almost always a big part of what I do. I never really knew why, but in hindsight it is perfectly clear. I want people to feel the deep emotions that are behind my work, and colors do that best.
And so, no matter if it be through color pencils, oil and acrylic paints, clay and legos, film and photography, or animation, colors play an important role in my work. I explore a wide range of subject matter and media, but all connected in some form.
My work is at its core, inspired by Persian poetry. Much of my work includes flows, whether it be the flows of fabrics or the creation of a dripping effect of paints. These flows are largely inspired by Persian poetics, and Sufi whirling dervish dances. And so, there is also a sense of the mystical within my work. I want you to get lost in my work, even if for a moment. I want it to provoke emotions within you, to make you feel as though you are experiencing the painting, and to make you reflect on your perception of the subject matter, and your own experiences.
