Biography

Paria Shahverdi was born in Tehran, Iran, and has lived and worked in Canada since immigrating in 2004. She holds a BFA from Azad Tehran University, a second BFA from York University, and an MFA in Visual Art from York University, completed in 2025. Her multidisciplinary practice moves between painting, drawing, installation, sculpture, sound, and moving image, exploring themes of freedom, displacement, memory, and the spaces between cultures and geographies.

Shahverdi has exhibited extensively in Canada and internationally, with exhibitions and projects in Iran, the United States, the United Kingdom, China, and across Europe. Her work has been presented in Toronto, New York, Tehran, London, Beijing, and other international venues. Her practice has been recognized through support from the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts. She is currently a visiting artist and resident at Arts Letters and Numbers (ALN) in New York, where she continues her interdisciplinary artistic practice and research. Her work has also received recognition through CBC Radio and CBC Television.