Simin Ekrami

Simin Ekrami (; born 1948) is an Iranian sculptor whose work includes stone, bronze, wood and plaster sculpture, reliefs and public monuments. Her sculptures frequently draw on natural and organic forms, the human figure and historical representations of geography.

Ekrami studied sculpture in the United States before completing her studies at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Tehran, where she worked primarily under Parviz Tanavoli. Her public works include sculptures in Jamshidieh Park, the grounds of the Iranian Artists Forum and Goft-o-goo Park in Tehran. Before leaving Iran, she attended painting classes, including classes associated with painter and sculptor Jazeh Tabatabai.

Work Ekrami's sculpture frequently begins with the physical characteristics of the material itself. In her stone works she has often retained existing geological forms rather than imposing a completely predetermined shape on the material.

Her practice has been described in surveys of contemporary Iranian sculpture as combining an emotional treatment of the figure with disciplined attention to volume and material.

Historical maps A recurring strand in Ekrami's work is the transformation of historical Persian maps and geographical diagrams into three-dimensional forms. She became interested in early Iranian geographical drawings while researching visual representations of the mathematician Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi. The forms she encountered in historical manuscripts led her to create sculptures based on maps by Persian geographers and mathematicians.

Public sculpture Ekrami has completed a number of commissions for public spaces in Tehran and other Iranian cities.

In the 1990s she was commissioned to produce a sculptural model for the mechanized postal service in Shiraz and another work for Tehran's Urban Renewal Organization.

Her work was included in the 2023 exhibition A Selection of 70 Years of Iranian Sculpture, which surveyed several generations of Iranian sculptors.

Art market Ekrami's sculptures have appeared in Iranian and international auctions. In 2008, Christie's offered a bronze edition of The Earth, executed in 1990.

Selected public works

Model for the mechanized postal service, Shiraz, early 1990s Sculpture for Tehran's Urban Renewal Organization, 1990s The Earth, based on a map attributed to Al-Biruni, commissioned for the state pavilion at Mehrabad International Airport, 1993 Four monumental stone sculptures, Jamshidieh Park, Tehran, begun 1994 The Earth, Goft-o-goo Park, Tehran, 2004 Seven stone birds, Iranian Artists Forum, Tehran, 2006