Secret Meadow: An Interview with Negar Sepehr
Purple couch dreams - Digital artwork by Negar Sepehr in collaboration with AI, 2025. Exhibited in Secret Meadow, on Colonna Contemporary gallery.
Negar Sepehr, 33, is an Iranian artist from Tehran — and also a mechanical engineer by education and contingency: “Being an artist was hardly recognized as a profession in my country. So I decided to study engineering and pursue my passion for art alongside it,” she recalls.
Influenced by her father — a civil engineer and art enthusiast — Negar took every chance she had to learn and experiment with new techniques in her artistic practice. From traditional painting, she began exploring AI tools and developed a style entirely her own, marked by an impressive use of color and pattern.
Beyond that, one of the defining aspects of her digital work is its focus on minorities: “I come from a country where women's and LGBTQIA+ rights have been ignored and violated for a long time.” Sepehr also explores her Persian roots in her traditional paintings, managing two separate profiles on social media for each style.
I talked with Negar about all this — and also her new series, Secret Meadow, live today at Colonna Contemporary gallery on objkt.com. It features four works, including three 1/1s and an edition of ten. In addition, she’s created a collection of five separate 16” x 20” archival prints in an edition of five. You can't miss it.
© Colonna Contemporary
I’d love to know a bit more about you, could you share your story with us?
Ever since I can remember, I’ve had a nagging desire to create. Growing up, being an artist was hardly recognized as a profession in my country, so I decided to study engineering and follow my passion for art alongside it. I took any chance to learn and try new things, especially in painting.
In 2017, I graduated with a master’s degree in mechanical engineering. I took a job as an engineer, but also started an Instagram account to share some of my oil paintings. I began mixing different media and experimenting with new techniques whenever I could. Traditional Persian motifs, calligraphy, and modern painting came together in my work, always around the theme of women's rights and freedom — my main concern.
Some of my works were well received, and with each passing day it became clearer that I should take the risk of quitting my job and fully committing to art. I finally did that after six months and became a full-time artist — and I’m so happy I could make it work.
My journey into the NFT space began in late 2021, when I first released a collection of my paintings on Hic et Nunc. Later, I started using AI and minted my collection Portrait of Life on objkt in January 2023.
A path to creation - Digital artwork by Negar Sepehr in collaboration with AI, 2025. Exhibited in Secret Meadow, on Colonna Contemporary gallery.
Do you come from an artistic family? Was there anyone around you who encouraged you to follow this path?
My father was a civil engineer and an art enthusiast. He tried to introduce me to art, photography, and painting early in my childhood. Drawing and painting were his hobbies, and I learned a lot from him.
What’s it like being a female artist in your country?
Sometimes the community takes male artists more seriously than female artists, and you have to try harder to be recognized. In my country, this isn’t limited to the art world — it shows up in many aspects of life.
How do you balance your time between creating and promoting your work on social media? Do you have any help with marketing, or do you manage everything entirely on your own?
I’ve been doing this for about seven years with my physical paintings on Instagram, and it helped me find balance and manage my time in the NFT space too. It’s still a bit challenging to handle both on my own, but I prefer it that way.
The feminine presence is strong in your work. Your scenes often depict relationships between women, radiating a sense of harmony, trust, and deep serenity. Are you painting moments from your own life, or envisioning worlds you'd like to live in?
I come from a country where women's and LGBTQ+ rights have been ignored and violated for a long time. Watching people live their everyday lives has always been a captivating pastime for me. The simple act of observing others often sparks a sense of wonder and empathy, reminding me of the shared humanity that connects us all.
I focus on profound emotional moments that often go unnoticed in our busy lives. By highlighting these moments, I aim to inspire viewers to pause, reflect, and appreciate the beauty and significance that can be found in these aspects of life. Experiencing these moments is much more difficult for some groups of people, so I can say this is the world I would like to live in.
You started with physical painting, right? How did the transition to digital happen? Did you dive straight into using AI, or did you explore other digital approaches to painting first?
I’m always looking to try new things, and I’ve explored different digital approaches. When I first heard about AI, I was eager to try it. As I got more involved, I became even more fascinated by the tools. I felt that AI was enabling me to explore many ideas and develop them at a much faster pace — some ideas I’d had in mind for a long time. So, I became more and more immersed in it, and sometimes I even use AI to shape my initial ideas for an oil painting.
© negar_sepehr_art IG - (still from video)
And what would you say are the main aesthetic differences between your traditional paintings and your digital works?
My traditional paintings draw deeply from my Persian roots, reflecting the myths, stories, and beloved culture of my heritage. In contrast, my digital art delves into the universal landscape of human emotions, anxieties, and aspirations.
Sense of belonging - Digital artwork by Negar Sepehr in collaboration with AI, 2025. Exhibited in Secret Meadow, on Colonna Contemporary gallery.
What’s your creative process like when working with AI? What kind of inputs do you typically use, and do you make manual adjustments to the images afterward?
Once an initial concept materializes in my mind, I begin a creative process that involves generating hundreds of images using AI tools, each offering a slight or significant variation of the original idea. By carefully selecting and digitally stitching these images together, followed by post-processing with graphics software, I construct the final composition that aligns with my vision. This iterative approach allows me to explore a wide range of possibilities and ultimately bring my abstract ideas to life.
Your color palette is very distinctive. How do you choose your colors? Does it come from intuition, specific references, or something else?
I’d say colors are like my language. I express my feelings about moments in life through colors. I think this comes from many years of painting, as well as my Persian heritage.
Being - Digital artwork by Negar Sepehr in collaboration with AI, 2025. Exhibited in Secret Meadow, on Colonna Contemporary gallery.
Regarding Secret Meadow, could you tell us a bit about the story behind the collection? How did the idea come about, and what inspired you to create it?
I’m really interested in psychology, and one day I was listening to a podcast about how dreams can reveal hidden aspects of ourselves. Recently, a dream about a meadow sparked this train of thought. Dreams connect us to our subconscious, and the 'secret meadow' symbolizes those deep-seated hopes and fears we might not consciously acknowledge. I believe discovering these underlying desires through dreams can bring profound joy.
Secret Meadow - by Negar Sepehr