Born in Tehran in 1979, Jinous Kani was raised by a well-educated family who intrinsically valued and included art in her daily activities. By middle school Kani took up sketching, a craft in which she quickly excelled. Recognizing her potential, Kani’s parents encouraged her to continue her education at a high school with an art-based curriculum. During this period, she developed an interest in visual abstraction, and the imaginative vignettes and figures conjured out of this unconventional method of drawing. After high school, Kani studied Graphic Design at Azad University in Tehran and was later hired by one of Iran’s leading design agencies. But after a visit to the U.S., she experienced a sudden interest in new ways of thinking that profoundly impacted her artistic expression. She subsequently relocated to the states where painting became her career focus. Influenced primarily by figurative greats Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt, Kani brilliantly captures the tension between negative and positive space on canvas, a trait evident in much of her work. Stylized bodies of exaggerated proportions intertwine with powerful color and line to convey a serenity of spirit. This intense, inimitable approach has helped Kani harvest a strong following for someone of her youth. She is represented nationally in galleries throughout the U.S.