Artist Bio
Moti Tavassoli is a Persian-American artist and designer based in Los Angeles. Having grown up in Tehran and LA, she belongs to both and neither. Suspended in the liminal space between two places and identities, she creates vivid abstract composition in acrylic paintings and ceramic sculptures to explore her relationship with nature, her place of belonging, play and chosen home.
She often pulls inspiration from the forms of plants and fungi, color combinations of local flowers, the indigenous and Japanese ideas of spirit in the non-living and the visual language of Persian miniature paintings.
Moti was a participant in Ellsworth Artist Residency and Soaring Gardens Artists Retreat. Her work has been exhibited in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles with Art Share LA, Band of Vices, Giant Robot, Mural Conservatory of LA, Compton Art and History Museum, bG Gallery and Launch LA. Her work is held in private collections across Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and Tucson.
She holds a bachelor of Architecture from California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo and teaches design at UCLA’s TeenArch program.
Contact
Email: motimakes@gmail.com
CV
Born in 1987, Tehran, Iran
Lives and works in Los Angeles, CA
Education
2016 . Bachelor of Architecture, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA
Group Exhibitions
2026
Summer Meditations, Launch LA, Los Angeles, CA
dear artists...Los Angeles, Band of Vices, Los Angeles, CA
Recession Proof Industries, Gesso Salon, Los Angeles, CA
Spectrum Gestalt, BG Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
We are the Land, Compton Art and History Museum, Compton, CA
Kaiju, Giant Robot Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
VeryWellRead, Mural Conservatory of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
2025
Foot Prints II, Hahamongna Watershed Park, Los Angeles, CA
Alumni Gallery Exhibition #3, Art Share L.A., Los Angeles, CA
When Worlds Collide, Cannibal Flowers and Lucky Cat Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Ellsworth Artist Residency Alumni Exhibit, Art Share L.A., Los Angeles, CA
Echo in the Garden, Echo Park Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Emerge, Raven Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2024
Foot Prints I, Angeles National Forrest, Los Angeles, CA
Collective II, Visionary Projects Gallery, New York, NY
Wine + Art Benefit, CASA of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Female Art Night, SAB Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2023
Winter Show, Pershing Art Space, Los Angeles, CA
By Land or Sea, ShockBoxx Gallery, Hermosa Beach, CA
Summer Show I, Studio.Gallery.LB, Long Beach, CA
Residencies
2025 . Ellsworth Artist Residency, Los Angeles, CA
2026 . Soaring Gardens Artist Residency, Laceyville, PA
Teaching
2025 . UCLA TeenArch Instructor, Los Angeles, CA
2026 . UCLA TeenArch Instructor, Los Angeles, CA