Born in Ahwaz, Iran, Sabzi started painting at the age of twelve and was encouraged in his early progression as an artist by his parents and teachers. Although he earned his bachelor's degree in agricultural engineering from the University of Jundi Shapur, Sabzi was never far from his artist's tools.

Coming of age under the controversial regime of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in the 1980's, Sabzi went into exile, fleeing to Germany and later, to the United States where he eventually settled in Southern California. Always, Sabzi's evolving work reflected what he saw around him.

His earliest inspiration was the work his mother did as a weaver of Persian rugs. "My artistic inspiration, the very basis of form and color for my work, comes from my childhood memories of Persian rugs designed and weaved by my mother. As I watched her for hours creating gorgeous patterns, hues and textures, her fingers dancing across the loom, the designs and shapes of my current work took form." He would later develop a realist style as he traveled through Germany, and then he moved on to a more figurative and abstract style.

Today, Sabzi's subjects are almost always women; beautiful graceful, taciturn and melancholy, they reflect love, mystery and solitude. His paintings integrate both Eastern and Western philosophies, and as always, his rich Persian heritage provides him with a store of ancient images, sentimental Persian themes and memories of innocence. He draws from the Western influence of modernism found in the works of Klee, Cezanne, Matisse, and Bonnard, as well as the ancient Persian poet Rumi.