Master Alijan Alijanpour was born (1956) in the small northern coast town of Fereydunkenar, Iran. He immigrated to Toronto, Canada in 2000, and founded Irena Art School & Gallery the same year. 

When Alijan was 7-years old, Alijan came across two painters who were visiting from the capital, Tehran. He approached the painters, and asked them to draw a woman doing her laundry in the nearby stream. One of the men dismissed little Alijan, but the other heeded him. Alijan was moved by that artist’s willingness to collaborate. He began to draw every day. Though he didn't have access to paints and materials, Alijan used charcoal on the walls and the pavement to practice. By the age of 9, Alijan was painting on glass surfaces and cars...anywhere he could work, he took the opportunity. Alijan has committed to his 10,000 hours and then some.

With decades of experience leading workshops and classes, Alijan has dedicated his career to lifting up the voices of femmes and honouring/centering the Divine Feminine in his art. His skills borne from Miniature have made him very capable at painting quite literally anything, and he is especially skilled in fine line and colour theory. As the tradition of Miniature is dying due to the dismissal of arts in Iranian society, Alijan finds it imperative to pass on his skills and knowledge to the youth, no matter where they come from.

Alijan's works highlight Divine Femininity and Transcendence from the material plane unto the cosmic dimension. And in doing so, he has subverted classical Biblical/Qur’anic imagery, so as to empower the viewer with feelings of expansion. In this sense, Alijan has succeeded in learning from the great poets to come before him.

As Alijan looks to the future, he finds himself experimenting further with this ancient medium: moving beyond the Sun and the Light and human forms, to that of the endless wonder and mystery of the cosmos, and figures that bear no solid form – so free, so fluid…a tribute to the great poets who will come after him.

Alijan Alijanpour has exhibited his work all over the world, including at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Arts, the Ontario Legislative Building (permanent commission) and the National Art Museum of China.