Guided by a balance of intuition and precision, Negar Afshar’s artistic journey bridges structure and emotion, finding harmony between control and spontaneity. Before committing to a full-time artistic practice, she built a successful career in banking, specialising in Financial Crime and Reputational Risk. This experience continues to influence her creative process, bringing discipline, focus and an awareness of complexity to her work.

Working primarily with acrylic on canvas, Afshar explores themes of freedom, femininity, cultural identity and the emotional duality of pain and pleasure. Her paintings emerge from a deeply personal space yet speak to universal experiences of belonging, transformation and resilience. Through layered textures, bold colour and fluid forms, she captures the richness of the feminine spirit in its many expressions of strength, grace and renewal.

Based in London, Afshar often employs unconventional techniques to apply pigment, allowing gesture and texture to guide her compositions. Her versatility extends beyond acrylics to include charcoal, watercolour and oil color, each medium serving as a language for emotion and reflection. Her surrealist works have been exhibited at the Stephen Lawrence Gallery for an extended period, and she has also organised art auctions to raise funds for those in need, reflecting her belief in art’s power to connect and uplift communities.

Her dedication to artistic growth has been recognised through the Learner Awards 2025 – Creative Industries (Art), where she received a “Highly Commended” distinction presented by the Mayor of Westminster. Through her art, Afshar invites viewers into a contemplative space where memory, identity and emotion intertwine. Her canvases are not mere expressions of form or colour but explorations of the inner worlds that connect us all.

Exhibitions:

Unbound (2025), Primrose Hill, London

Community Exhibition (2025), The Civic Lab, Kentish Town