Biography
Shamsi is an award-winning 2003 graduate of OCAD University with a major in drawing and painting. Born in Tehran, Iran, she obtained her Bachelor of Art from Allameh Tabatabaie University in Tehran. She has established herself as an accomplished artist and art instructor at the Varley Art Gallery and in her studio and she is also an avid photographer and writer.
“Painting speaks of the artist’s identity and character”
—Shamsi Shahrokhi
Shamsi has invented and pioneered an award-winning painting technique called “heat drawing,” where she creates images and shapes on heat sensitive papers, without using conventional materials, by applying heat to their surfaces. Shamsi works in a wide variety of media such as water color, oil, acrylic, pastel, multimedia, printmaking and heat drawing.
Shamsi has participated in numerous solo exhibitions and group shows. She has received several awards and grants including OCAD University’s Dorothy Hoover Award in 2003; First Prize of 225 works in the 6th National Biennial Competition of Art and Paper in Ottawa, and her piece was added to the National Bank of Canada’s collection in 2004; the Juror’s Merit Award in the 2005 Juried Exhibition of Thames Art Gallery in Chatham, Ontario; Grand Prize in the 2006 First Annual Vortex Art Competition, hosted by the Blue Man Group in Toronto; Second Prize in the Latcham Gallery’s 2007 Annual Juried Exhibition in Stouffville, Ontario; Jurors’ Award in the Art Gallery of Peel’s 34th Annual Juried Show in Brampton, Ontario; Jurors’ Merit Award in the 2008 Annual York Region Juried Exhibition in the Varly Art Gallery of Markham; Second Prize in “Drawing 2009,” the 10th Annual Juried Drawing Exhibition, John B. Aird Gallery, Toronto; and Ontario Arts CouncilExhibition Assistance Grants in 2010, 2012, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Other achievements include a live demonstration on City TV’s Breakfast Television on May 7, 2003; selection of her work for the cover of Ontario’s Community Arts Matters! (CAM) 2007 magazine; election by RBC as the Iranian Art Representative at the Cultura Festival in 2011 and Tirgan Festival in 2011 and 2013; recipient of the 2014 Iranian Canadian Congress (ICC) Achievement Award, in the category of “Excellence in Community Contribution” for the Arts field and recipient of the 2017 Iranian Woman’s Organization of Ontario (IWOO) Creative Spirit Award, for overall accomplishments over the years and making an impact in the community through art.
Shamsi has thought at the Varley Art Gallery in Markham, Ontario. She has over 25 years of teaching experience on drawing, painting and art portfolio. She resides in Thornhill, Ontario, with her family and teaches art lessons at her private studio in Thornhill.