Leila Fatemi (b. 1991, Milan) is a contemporary visual artist currently based in Tkaronto/Toronto. Through a combination of material and textual research, her practice unfolds across a variety of mediums including photography, collage, archival materials, textile, pattern and printmaking. Bridging themes of postcolonialism, gender, and spirituality, Fatemi's work challenges viewers to consider their role in relation to the representational accuracy and cultural consequences of Orientalized subjects. Her work offers alternative perspectives surrounding the colonial gaze, ethnic representation, and collective numinous experiences by employing methods of subversion and reclamation as tools to resist imperialist legacies.
Fatemi received a BFA in Image Arts: Photography Studies from Toronto Metropolitan University. Her work has been exhibited in Canada and internationally and has been featured in online and print media. She was the first-place recipient of the Clyde & Co. Art Award for excellence in visual art, a finalist for the Toronto Arts Foundation Emerging Artist Award in 2020 and is the 2022-2023 Black, Indigenous, People(s) of Colour Residency recipient at Open Studio.