Mahrokh Mofid Nakhaei

This is an anti-advert:
I am Mahrokh Mofid Nakhaei, born in 1986 in one of the world’s most unfortunate countries, Iran, which is gripped by oppression. While I consider myself unlucky, I acknowledge that I am much luckier than Navid Afkari, Nika Shakrami, Karun Hajizadeh, and hundreds of other innocent people who were denied the right to live because of the evils of the Islamic Republic.
For the past eighteen years, I have been an immigrant. At 19, I moved to Semnan to study Handicrafts for a BA degree. Driven by my childhood dream of living in Tehran, I enrolled in the figurative drawing class there, commuting between Semnan and Tehran and from Sari, my hometown, to Tehran for four years. Eventually, I decided to pursue painting. In 2018, I graduated from Sooreh Art University in Tehran with an MA in Painting. Painting alone could not sustain me financially. During my time in Tehran, I ventured into various endeavors, from co-founding a café with friends to creating audio and video content for applications, and even taking a short two-month course in administrative and accounting work. Recently, I acquired sewing skills, along with nurturing my lifelong passion for singing.
Now, here in Manchester, as I’m studying for an MA in Painting, I am giving myself another chance to express my precarious thoughts through the medium of painting while contemplating the creation of life. Perhaps I can revive my old ambition of becoming a professional painter, dedicating my life to painting, gaining new experiences in painting, and earning a living through painting.