Born and raised in Persia, the rich history of Goli Mahallati’s country deeply impacted her as an artist, while simultaneously placing virtually insurmountable barriers for a woman to advance. Undaunted, this fearless artist pursued an education, receiving a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Tehran, going on for a Master’s at the American International College and then a doctorate at the University of Massachusetts. Throughout, Goli wielded a palette knife as a tool of freedom, creating abstracted figurative pieces revealing an admiration for the beauty and dignity of the ideal human spirit within every powerfully simple piece. Goli’s work is enthusiastically collected world-wide.