Mahmood Sabzi (Iranian, b. 1951) harnesses the power of feminine energy in resplendent works that move between abstraction and figuration. Sabzi was born in Ahv?z, Iran. As a child, he observed his mother weaving traditional Persian rugs. The image of his mother’s creativity left a deep impression on the young artist. Fleeing the Khomeini regime, Sabzi lived in exile in Germany and then in the U.S. His artistic practice expresses nostalgia for his homeland, surfacing through references to traditional Persian themes and imagery. In acrylic and oil paintings, Sabzi fuses Eastern influences with the style of Western modernists. Sabzi portrays idealized female subjects and sentimental scenes with blocky, geometric shapes that recall Henri Matisse’s Cut-Outs. His use of natural tones draws on the work of Paul Cézanne and Pierre Bonnard.