Helia Pouyanfar is a conceptual artist whose work investigates the permanently transient state of the refugee body and its negotiation and reconciliation with Place. Her sculptural and photographic work manipulate and contort 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 received her B.A. in Art Practice from the University of California, Berkeley in 2019 and her MFA in Studio Art from the University of California, Davis in 2022.
Her work has been exhibited at the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, de Young Museum, Skirball Cultural Center, Miami University, Foyer-LA, Root Division, Southern Exposure, Berkeley Art Center, Kala Art Gallery, Richmond Art Center, and SF Camerawork.
She is the 2024 Kala Art Institute Fellowship artist and 2024 Berkeley Civic Arts grantee, currently maintaining an art studio practice in the Bay Area.