Analog & mixed-media collage
Woman, Life, Freedom — collage as a language for what words couldn't hold.
Narges Valibeigi is a mixed-media and analog collage artist based in Los Altos, California, whose work explores themes of "Woman, Life, Freedom" — connecting her Iranian heritage with global feminist ideals. Her collages layer handmade materials and mixed media into pieces that are both deeply personal and universally resonant.
Narges also works as a UX Research Manager and holds an academic background in sociology and communication. Outside the studio, she's the mother of a teenage daughter — a role she describes as one of her greatest sources of strength and inspiration.
Collage is the most liberating art form I know. Almost any material can be layered, torn, sewn, or glued together in whatever way makes sense — there's no limit to the creativity of form or content, and that's why I feel most at home in this medium.
Before I was an artist, I was an immigrant sociologist, writing about communication technology and its impact on women's identities. But words alone couldn't hold everything I'd lived through as a first-generation immigrant. Collage became my voice.
My work centers on women — their bodies, their histories, their struggles in both familiar and foreign homes. Every piece carries fragments of my own story: my photographs, my emotions, my memory.
The Woman, Life, Freedom uprising in Iran in 2022 marked a turning point. Watching from a distance, I found that collage let me honor the courage of women I couldn't otherwise reach. Since then, my work has become a way to confront the sexism and chauvinism women continue to face — and to say, finally, what words never let me say.
I want to put everything I've learned in art and communication toward helping kids and adults alike — guiding them to express their feelings and emotions through art, to heal through the creative process, and to build a stronger sense of self-awareness by working with color, shape, and form.