Sofia Pashaei

Sofia Pashaei (b. 1989 in Stockholm, Sweden) lives and works in Brussels.

Pashaei's work explores cultural belonging through painting, text, and drawing. The figures in her paintings often appear composed and rigid, with a sculptural quality to their bodies. Their controlled poses reflect a heightened awareness of the self: the feeling of constantly observing, adjusting, and presenting oneself when living between cultures. This sense of self-awareness runs through the different mediums she works with and is particularly present in her interest in family relationships and the ways cultural identity is shaped within them. Her visual language draws on the geometry and flattened perspectives of Middle Eastern art, particularly Qajar portraiture, alongside elements of Scandinavian modernism. These influences come together in compositions that feel both familiar and slightly distant, creating spaces where intimacy and restraint exist side by side.

For Sous Influence: When living between cultures, you learn that cultural norms are not fixed or universal; they shift from one context to another. You begin to exist in a space of constant translation, moving between one set of expectations to the next. The question of what comes first nature or nurture lingers. Aren't we all constantly shaping ourselves to fit with the other?

Sofia Pashaei's debut solo exhibition, Meaning in the Off Hours, opened at Ballon Rouge in Brussels in 2022, followed by her second solo exhibition, An Orphan in the Territory of Giants, at the gallery in 2024. In 2023, she received the Kells Collection Award at SWAB Barcelona for her solo presentation with Rafael Pérez Hernando Gallery. She has since presented two duo exhibitions in Belgium at Rufus Gallery in Ghent and Edji Gallery in Brussels (2025). Her work has also been presented in group exhibitions at Fondation Boghossian in Brussels and The Hole in New York, among others. In 2026, she will present her third solo exhibition with MXM Gallery in Madrid, followed by her fourth solo exhibition with Edji Gallery in Brussels in 2027. Alongside her visual art practice, Pashaei works as an animation director, with her short films screened at animation and film festivals internationally.