SEPI GOLESTANI | NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS
Inspired by my childhood memories, my Persian heritage, the world around me, I create art and invite others to my world.
Sepi Golestani is a visual artist and educator who earned her Master of Arts in Teaching from Tufts University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (SMFA) in 2014. With over 20 years of experience in painting, she specializes in watercolor and acrylics and is a certifi ed art teacher.
Since relocating to the United States, she has showcased her work in various group exhibitions across the Greater Boston area. She is currently affi liated with TAG (The Art Gallery), the New England Art Center in SoWa Boston and holds Signature membership with NAWA (National Association of Women Artists).
With more than 20 years background in painting with different media especially watercolor and about 16-year experience of teaching adults' watercolor classes, I started my teaching journey at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston by teaching children’s Art studio classes and adults' watercolor courses in 2013. I also teach Visual Arts to elementary school students with Natick Public Schools, MA. I have the privilege of working with a diverse group of the most amazing and talented students and artists. I love teaching art and working with different age groups. I believe in students' capabilities and strengths; Their ideas are unique and inspiring.
I love to explore new possibilities in art making based on our everyday life inspirations both as an individual, and as an important member of our communities.
About Chronic Anxiety: My life is intertwined with a constant sense of uncertainty and the stress of what the future holds for my homeland and its freedom. Each strand is woven with chronic anxiety, binding my existence in an intricate pattern of worry and hope. About Frozen Blossoms:Frozen Blooms is about the quiet toll of life’s hardships. The woman holds a bouquet of flowers—symbols of beauty and hope—but she doesn’t seem to feel their warmth. Her gaze is distant, her expression unreadable, as if the struggles she’s faced have left her numb. The deep purple tones wrap around her like a lingering sadness, while the bright yellow background reminds us that life’s warmth still exists, even when it feels out of reach.
This painting speaks to those moments when we carry beauty in our hands but feel unable to embrace it, when the weight of our past makes it hard to see the light ahead. I created this piece in a time of deep personal and collective pain — a response to the war in the Middle East, and to the fear I felt for my family, my people, and my homeland. The birds in this collage are more than symbols; they are fragments of that emotional rupture. Cutting and placing them onto paper became an act of processing grief and channeling love — love for those suffering, and for the voices silenced by violence.
In Where the Sky Betrays, three birds struggle against a glass wall they cannot escape, while two eagles hunt and attack defenseless pigeons — a metaphor for injustice, conflict, and survival. This is a visual story of the innocent caught in the crossfire of power. The title speaks to the betrayal of nature — when even the sky, a symbol of freedom, becomes a barrier. This work lives at the intersection of survival and expression — echoing the show’s theme of “Adapt or Die.” Art, like life, demands we keep dancing — even when the ground beneath us is unsteady. I didn’t choose this story; it chose me. And through it, I honor not only my own experience, but the collective pain of those whose voices and lives have been compromised — and whose hope, like mine, refuses to die. It feels as though I was walking an invisible path, unknowingly guided by kind souls and gentle voices. This story isn’t mine alone — it belongs to everyone who carries the same pain in their hearts, especially those I hold dear.
Where the Sky Betrays, 27 x 21 in., painted paper collage and ink pen // $850.00
