Mina Keykhaei (b. Zahedan, Iran) is a visual artist and researcher based in Tkarón:to/Toronto, working from the position of a settler-immigrant on the lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg and the Haudenosaunee. Moving between textiles, photography and installation, her practice examines what persists in material, image and space when language, archives and official narratives fail to hold it. Through appliqué and material transformation, she creates forms that hold contradiction without resolving it.
She holds an MA in Fashion from Toronto Metropolitan University, where her practice in sustainability received the Value Village Sustainable Graduate Award and the School of Fashion Award (2024). Her work has been supported by the Ontario Arts Council and Canada Council for the Arts. Her writing on textile politics has been published in Fashion Studies journal.
CV
EDUCATION
2024 Master of Arts in Fashion, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Canada
2012 Bachelor of Business Management, Kavian University, Mashhad, Iran
EXHIBITIONS
2026 The Hypervisible Woman and her Shadow, Ignite Gallery, OCAD University, Toronto, Canada
2026 InSitu: The Storied Edition, CreativeHub 1352, Small Arms Inspection Building, Mississauga, Canada
2025 The Artist Project, Untapped Juried Competition (selected artist), Better Living Centre, Toronto, Canada
2025 Woven Together: Fabrics of Belonging, Artspace Gallery, 401 Richmond, Toronto, Canada
2024 What Remains, Mississauga Festival of Trees, Small Arms Inspection Building, Mississauga, Canada
2024 Human Condition, Sahar K. Boluki Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2024 Fourth Annual Juried Show of Visual Arts, Art Gallery of Mississauga, Mississauga, Canada
2024 Maximum Exposure 29: Beyond The Surface, Image Arts Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2017 100 Artists, 100 Artworks, Golestan Gallery, Mashhad, Iran
2014 Charchoub Photography Exhibition, Jahad Gallery, Mashhad, Iran
CURATORIAL EXPERIENCE
2024 Curatorial Team Member, Rebellion, Rejection, & Reconciliation, Assembly Gallery, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto
2023 Curatorial Team Member, Breathe, Textile Museum of Canada, Toronto
2014 Curatorial Team Member and Jury Member, Charchoub Student Photography Exhibition, Jahad Gallery, Mashhad, Iran
GRANTS & AWARDS
2025 Ontario Arts Council, Exhibition Assistance Grant
2024 Ontario Arts Council, Project Grant
2024 Tree Installation Grant, Mississauga Festival of Trees, CreativeHub 1352
2024 Value Village Sustainable Graduate Award, Toronto Metropolitan University
2024 School of Fashion Award in Sustainable Design, Toronto Metropolitan University
2022 Ryerson Graduate Fellowship, Toronto Metropolitan University
PUBLICATIONS
2025 "Textile Narratives: Waste as Cultural Archive." Fashion Studies Journal, Volume 5, Issue 2. Open access: www.fashionstudies.ca/textile-narratives
PRESENTATIONS AND ARTIST TALKS
2026 “A Kind of Courage Recognizable from Far Away: Diaspora Art and the Refusal of Liberal Recognition,” upcoming paper presentation, UAAC-AAUC Conference 2026, Villainous Methodologies: Misbehaving Aesthetics and Deviant Practices, Concordia University, Montréal, QC, October 13.
2026 Artist Talk, The Hypervisible Woman and her Shadow, Ignite Gallery, OCAD University, Toronto
2024 "From Decoration to Narration: The Evolution of Storytelling in Persian Textile Art," Unravelling Fashion Narratives Symposium, New York City
2023 "Sustainable Art and Consumer Behavior Analysis" (research poster), TMU Sustainable Fashion Conference, Toronto
RESEARCH
2023 Research contribution on a Persian theatre banner for the Textile Museum of Canada collection and database
TEACHING AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
2025– Arts Educator, Cedar Ridge Creative Centre, City of Toronto
2026 Outreach Artist, Departure: a collaborative hand-stitched journey map developed with visual arts students at Cawthra Park Secondary School, presented in InSitu: The Storied Edition, Small Arms Inspection Building, Mississauga
2026 Teaching Artist, Cedar Ridge Student Exhibition, Nathan Cole Gallery, Toronto
2024 Co-led exhibition design workshop, Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto
2022 Co-developed curriculum and facilitated creative printing workshops for teenagers and young adults, Scotiabank Arena, Toronto