To Shamsi Shahrokhi, art is a commitment to honor both her Persian culture and her life in Canada. A pleasing combination of eastern aesthetics executed via Western-style painting techniques is observed in most of her paintings. Shamsi works in a wide variety of media such as water color, oil, acrylic, pastel, multimedia, printmaking and heat drawing. Born in Tehran, Iran, Shamsi and her family immigrated to Canada in summer of 1991. Shamsi has invented and pioneered an award winning painting technique called Heat Drawing, where she creates images and shapes on heat sensitive papers without using conventional materials such as paintbrushes, but by applying heat to their surfaces.
Shamsi Shahrokhi
Shamsi is an award winning graduate from the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD) with a major in drawing and painting. Born in Tehran, Iran, she obtained her Bachelor of Art from Allameh Tabatabaie University in Tehran and attended various workshops under instruction of well-known artists. She immigrated to Toronto, Canada along with her family in the summer of 1991.
Shamsi is very dedicated to art, therefore making it part of her life. Shamsi has administrated visual art lessons at Kaveh Academy, and currently she is instructing artists of all ages at her private classes. She also instructs at the Varley Gallery.
2007 "Diversity", Loop Gallery, Toronto
1997 "Memory", North York Art Gallery, Toronto
1996 "Treasure of My Past", Pleasant View Community Branch, Toronto
1994 "Joy", Barg Gallery, Tehran, Iran
Juried Exhibitions
2007 "34th Annual Juried Show", Art Gallery of Peel, Brampton, Ontario
2007 "Annual Juried Exhibition", Latcham Gallery, Stouffvile, Ontario 2007 "Canadian Artists Without Borders", Varley Art Gallery of Markham, Unionville 2006 "Visual Arts Mississauga", 29th Annual Juried Show of Fine Arts, Art Gallery of Mississauga, Mississauga. 2006 "Legacy of the Circle: Thornhill Artists Today", McKay Art Centre, Unionville 2006 "Vortex", Blue Man Group's Annual Vortex Art Competition, Panasonic Theater, Toronto 2005 "2005 Juried Exhibition", Thames Art Gallery, Chatham,Ontario
2005 "Transitive: Toronto Artists in St. Petersburg", Kabat Wrobel Gallery, Toronto
2005 "58th Annual Art Show", Willowdale Group of Artists, Toronto 2004 "Art & Paper VI", the 6th National Biennial Competition of Works on Paper, Galerie d'Art Jean-Claude-Bergeron, Ottawa
2004 "The 6th Tehran Contemporary Painting Biennial", Contemporary Museum of Arts, Tehran, Iran 2003 "Roots", OCAD Gallery, Toronto
2003 "Go West", S.P.I.N Gallery, Toronto
'02-03 "Spring Show", Willowdale Group of Artists, Toronto
'02-04 Etobicoke Civic Canter Art Gallery, Toronto
'00-02 "Aquavision", Toronto Watercolor Society's Annual Fall Show, Toronto
2000 "Red Hot" Show, Toronto Watercolor Society, OCAD Gallery, Toronto
1999 38th Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition, Nathan Philips Square, Toronto
Non-Juried Group Exhibitions
2007 "The Group Show", Sole Gallery, Toronto
2007 "The 2007 Heintzman Invitational Art Show", Heintzman House, Thornhill, Ontario 2006 "Silence of Colours", Persian New Year Festival, "Under the Azure Dome",
Marilyn Brewer Community Space, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto 2005 "10th Annual Members' Fundraising Show", Aspace Gallery, Toronto 2005 "Harmony in Nature", The Richmond Hill Academy of Music and Arts, Richmondhill 2004 Society of Canadian Artists Exhibition, Society of Canadian Artists, Heliconian Hall, Toronto
2003 "Autumn Art Show", Society of Canadian Artists, Hummingbird Center, Toronto
2003 88th Annual Student Exhibition, OCAD, Toronto
2003 "Salute to Spring", fundraising for "The Rotary Club of Willowdale", Willowdale
Group of Artists, Toronto
2002 "Thought Images", Gallery 401, Toronto
2002 "Art Exhibition for International Women's Day", Irena Art Gallery, Toronto
'99 & '01 "Millennium Artists Art Exhibition", Wagner-Rosenbaum Gallery, Toronto
'98-00 OCAD Open house Exhibition, Toronto
1996 Iranian's Arts & Culture Center, Toronto
Achievements
2007 Jurors' Award, 34th Annual Juried Show, Art Gallery of Peel, Brampton, Ontario 2007 Second Prize Award, Annual Juried Exhibition, Latcham Gallery, Stouffville, Ontario 2007 Community Arts Ontario, selection of work for the cover of spring 2007 issue of Community
Arts Matters! (CAM) magazine, Toronto 2006 Grand Prize Award, First Annual Vortex Art Competition, Hosted by Blue Man Group, Toronto 2005 Juror's Merit Award, 2005 Juried Exhibition, Thames Art Gallery, Chatham, Ontario
2004 First Prize Award, the 6th National Biennial Competition of Works on Paper, Ottawa
2004 Honorable Mention, the 6th Tehran Contemporary Painting Biennial, Society of Iranian Painters, Tehran, Iran
2003 Dorothy Hoover Award, for excellence in originality and innovation, OCAD, Toronto
2003 Live demonstration of newly invented technique, "Breakfast Television", "City TV", Toronto
