Yekta Tarki (she/her) is originally from Iran where she received her BFA and her first Master’s Degree in Fine Art at the Tehran University of Art. She came to Canada in 2023 where she explored the visualizing the pyrocene, addressing climate change through art and posthumanism at the University of Calgary and earned her second Master’s Degree in Fine Art. She now resides in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Yekta explores the relationship between humans and nature amidst environmental crises through her drawings and paintings. She focuses on disasters caused by climate change, and over the past two years, she has investigated the phenomenon of wildfires, specifically the Fort McMurray wildfire in Alberta, Canada. Her artworks draw on scientific data to represent the timeline of the wildfire, from its onset to its aftermath. Through abstraction, Yekta translates the wildfire’s timeline—from ignition to aftermath—into visual form. Shapes, lines, and colors become expressive tools that reinterpret fire, encouraging viewers to observe, imagine, and construct meaning through their own emotional and intellectual responses.

 

Education:
2023-2025   University of Calgary, Master of Fine Arts  Thesis: Visualizing the Pyrocene:                          Addressing Climate Change through Art and Posthumanism.

2018-2021   Tehran University of Art, Master of Fine Arts Thesis: Art in The                                                Anthropocene: Reflection of a Ruined Environment in Western                                              Contemporary Art

2014-2018   Tehran University of Art, Bachelor of Fine Arts

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Group and Solo Exhibitions:
2025   MFA Graduation Exhibition, Remnant, Nickle Galleries, Calgary, Alberta,

            Group Exhibition, Forests in Flux, Crescent Heights
2024   Mini Galleries, Calgary, Alberta
2023   Group Exhibition, Drawing: The Infusion of Life, Didar Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran
            Group Exhibition, In the Midst of Darkness, Light Persists, Homa Art Gallery,                      Tehran, Iran
            Group Exhibition, Didar with Artists, Didar Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2021   The secondary part in the 11th Persbook, we are nature Online Group                                Exhibition, Virtual page of Persbook, Tehran
2019   Printmaking Group Exhibition, Curated by Elmira Mirmiran, Shovadoun Art                        Gallery, Shooshtar
2018   Painting Group Exhibition: A Timeless Journey in Landscape, Curated by Tala                      Ranjbaran, Fereshteh Art
2018   Gallery, Tehran
2018   3rd Jokal Painting Festival, Mellat Cineplex, Tehran
2018   1st Painting Expo of Alzahra University, Kamal o din Behzad Gallery
2016   Charsoo Honar Printmaking Group Exhibition, Curated by Elmira Mirmiran, Haft                Samar Art Gallery, Tehran

 

Presentations:
2024 Interuniversity Graduate Student Studio Arts Conference, Session B: Confronting              Narratives Through Art, Project: Visualizing the Pyrocene: The Fort McMurray                    Project, University of Calgary
2021 Art in the Anthropocene Thesis Presentation, Tehran University of Art
          Awards and Certifications:

2025 Postdoctoral Scholar and Graduate Student Certificate in University Teaching and            Learning, University of Calgary

2025 Calgary Arts Development Micro Grant
2024 Alberta Foundation for Arts Graduate Scholarship in the Department of Art
2021 Awarded for the best Painting Thesis of the year for the Master of Art in Painting,            Tehran University of Art

Teaching:
2024-2025   Visual Arts Instructor, Raw Canvas Studio, Calgary, Alberta
2023-2025   Teaching Assistant , University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta