From archive to art history: Iranian artist continues his journey at ASU

When Mehrdad Mirzaie arrived at Arizona State University in 2022, he was navigating more than just the transition into an MFA program. As an Iranian artist and new international student, he was learning to find a voice—and a community—in a new country, language and academic system.

Now, three years later, Mirzaie has completed his MFA in studio art (photography) and is stepping into a new chapter at ASU: pursuing an MA in art history in the School of Art. For him, the shift isn’t so much a departure as it is a deepening of his practice.

“This next chapter feels less like a change in direction and more like a continuation,” he said. “I’ve evolved—not just as a photographer, but as an artist, curator and researcher.”

At the heart of that evolution is a growing body of work that bridges art-making and academic inquiry, personal memory and cultural history—with a particular focus on image-based art from Iran and other parts of the global south. His practice is both rooted in personal experience and committed to broader questions of representation, disappearance and resistance.

Building Tasvir: Art as archive

One of Mirzaie’s most impactful contributions during his time at ASU is the founding of Tasvir Archive, a collaborative, research-driven initiative that documents and curates contemporary Iranian image-based art. Launched in 2022 under the mentorship of School of Art faculty Cecilia Fajardo‑Hill and Liz Allen, the archive received more than 4,000 submissions from 160 artists in 12 countries.

Curated alongside scholar Sara Abbaspour, the project culminated in two major exhibitions hosted at the School of Art’s Northlight Gallery and Step Gallery. Nearly 90 percent of the exhibited works were donated to the Northlight collection, ensuring continued access for academic research and classroom use.

“Memory and disappearance are central to both archives and photographic history,” Mirzaie said. “Tasvir became a space to gather those traces—a place to resist forgetting.”

The archive continues to grow, serving as both a scholarly resource and a platform for international dialogue. It reflects Mirzaie’s long-term commitment to creating spaces for underrepresented, often unwritten, histories and fostering cross-cultural connections.

ASU as catalyst

Mirzaie credits the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts with helping him develop an interdisciplinary approach that blends studio practice, critical theory and curatorial thinking.

“ASU quickly became more than a place of study—it became a place of transformation,” he said.

His work as a gallery assistant and assistant curator at Northlight Gallery allowed him to take part in over a dozen exhibitions and lead three curatorial projects—experiences that shaped his understanding of exhibitions as not only artistic presentations, but also platforms for dialogue, public memory and healing.

Working closely with Fajardo-Hill, director of Northlight Gallery and a member of his thesis committee, also played a pivotal role in Mirzaie’s evolution. “Her mentorship expanded my understanding of art history and curatorial studies,” he said. “She encouraged me to think critically and engage with identity politics. That guidance helped shift my role from artist to researcher and reinforced my view of exhibitions as spaces for inquiry, healing and dialogue.”

This interdisciplinary shift was also supported by Mirzaie’s advisor, Professor Liz Cohen, whose mentorship challenged him to think long term about his practice and connect more deeply with contemporary art discourse.

Courses with art historians such as Meredith Hoy, Chelsea Haines and Benjamin Young provided additional grounding in critical theory and historiography and further shaped his academic and curatorial lens.

Identity, belonging and visual resistance

As an Iranian artist working in the U.S., Mirzaie’s work consistently centers on memory, erasure and the political dimensions of image-making. These themes show up not only in his creative practice but also in his curatorial projects and academic research.

While navigating cultural distance and new institutional systems, Mirzaie said he found an inclusive and supportive environment at ASU.

“I haven’t often felt like ‘the other’ here,” he said. “That sense of belonging gave me the freedom to explore, to grow and to bring my full self into the work.”

Looking ahead

Now pursuing his MA, Mirzaie is developing a research focus on image-based practices in the global south, drawing connections between regions shaped by the same socio-political situation—histories of censorship, trauma and fragmented archives. His long-term goal is to continue as an artist/curator and scholar, contributing to contemporary art discourse through research-based exhibitions, critical publications and teaching.

“I see theory and practice as deeply connected,” he said. “Whether I’m making, curating or writing, I’m always asking the same questions—about memory, about narrative, about whose histories get told.”

When asked to describe his journey so far, Mirzaie offered a visual metaphor: a large, layered collage—textured, fragmented, translucent, marked by many hands.

“It’s not a solitary journey,” he said. “It’s one shaped by community, by mentorship and by a shared commitment to telling stories that matter.”