Ali Tahayori’s interdisciplinary practice ranges from conceptual photography to the moving image, and installation. Tahayori uses archival materials, narrative fragments and performative modalities to explore themes of identity, home, and belonging. Combining fractured mirrors with text and imagery, his works draw on ancient Iranian philosophies about light and mirrors to create kaleidoscopic experiences; moments of both revelation and concealment hint at the conflicted nature of his identity. Translating the traditional Iranian craft of Āine-Kāri (mirror-works) into a contemporary visual vocabulary, his practice combines a discourse about diaspora and displacement with an exploration of queerness – in both cases, poignantly testifying to his experience of being othered. Born in Shiraz, Iran, Ali currently lives and works in Sydney, Australia (Gadigal country). Raised in the oppressively homophobic climate of 1980s Iran, Tahayori assumed the identity of an outsider, further compounded by his migration to Australia in 2007. He holds a Doctorate in Medicine and an MFA in Photomedia from the National Art School. Tahayori has exhibited locally and internationally and has been a finalist and winner of several local and International art prizes. Most recently, he was awarded the Artspace Create NSW Visual Arts Fellowship, and was awarded the winner of the Burwood Art Prize 2024.