The Duffy Speaker Series is presented by Wayne State University's James Pearson Duffy Department of Art, Art History, and Design. Free and open to the public, the Duffy Speaker Series invites distinguished artists and designers to campus to address students and the art community for lectures, reviews and studio visits. Seating is first come, first serve.

Elham Bayati is an Iranian-born, U.S.-based artist whose work explores the layered complexities of personal history, cultural identity, and the emotional terrain of womanhood.

Drawing from her Iranian heritage and experience navigating life in the West, Bayati works across drawing, printmaking, and collage to create intricate, dream-like compositions. Floral motifs and textile patterns — often inspired by her grandmother’s scarves and her mother’s dressmaking fabrics — are recurring elements in her work.

These symbols of memory and femininity are woven into richly layered pieces that explore the tensions between tradition and modernity, strength and vulnerability, and belonging and displacement. Her female figures become vessels for storytelling, introspection, and transformation.

Bayati’s work has received recognition including first place in the Ohio Art League’s Fall Juried Exhibition (2018) and was featured in the More is More exhibition at the Akron Museum of Art (2021) highlighting contemporary artists. She has participated in numerous group exhibitions internationally.

In addition to her studio practice, Bayati teaches painting and drawing at the Columbus College of Art and Design. She is deeply committed to nurturing creativity through both academic and private instruction. Through her art, Bayati invites viewers into a space of reflection—on identity, memory, resilience, and the poetic beauty of contrasts.