As an Iranian Azerbaijanis-American woman, Laleh Motlagh delves into profound explorations of love, intimacy, spirituality, trust, and resilience while remaining present to her own localities. Based in Chicago, Motlagh challenges socio-cultural alienation and navigates the complexities of multicultural identity. Often collaborative with nonhumans, she employs drawing, painting, performance, video, and installation to question the boundaries between human and natural life, the admissible and the taboo, as well as the geopolitical overtones found so prevalently in the discourse of border zones and notions of belonging.

Laleh Motlagh لاله مطلق (b. Tabriz, Iran) is a Chicago-based artist and educator. Her work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions at institutions such as Museo Universitario del Chopo (Mexico City, Mexico), EXPO (Chicago, USA), Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts (Chicago, USA), Chicago Artist Coalition (Chicago, USA), KHB Studios (Berlin, Germany), NAHR (Sotechiesta, Italy), Teufelsberg (Berlin, Germany), Gallery 400 (Chicago, USA), Sarv Gallery (Tehran, Iran), Farhang Gallery (Tabriz, Iran) among others. She has received multiple awards and recognitions including Individual Artists Program grant from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, Newcity’s Breakout Artist, U.S. Fulbright Independent Artist Research grant, Provost’s Award for Graduate Research, and more. Motlagh received her MFA from the University of Illinois Chicago.

Image: Fearless Love, 2021. Still from a 60:00 minutes performance.